Southern California Rose of Tralee

Irish Heritage Day 2008 started off under a bright sunny Southern California sky as the Rose Debutantes gathered at the Brothers St. Patrick for the second Rose Event of the Rose Program.

The day kicked off with a breakfast spread of coffee, bagels, donuts, and assorted pastries prepared by Christina and Mary Lynn.  Christina reviewed a few business items with the Roses and explained her rules for Heritage Day – one of them being that all the Roses learn something new about their Irish heritage and the Irish culture and of course, have fun!

The first guest of Heritage Day – Paula Kelly – arrived soon after to introduce the Roses to Irish Language.  Paula focused her segment on more of the common phrases the Roses may hear in Ireland.  The Roses practiced – and struggled – a little with the pronunciation.  Paula also talked about the history of the language in Ireland.

The next segment of Heritage Day was the Rose Presentations.  Already a favorite of the Roses, the presentations this year focused on their family’s Irish history.  And continuing the tradition of “thinking outside the box”, several of the Roses showed off their creative sides in their presentations.  The presentations gave insight to each Rose and their family origins.

Following the presentations, the Roses were treated to a delicious lunch of homemade Irish stew and warm bread – compliments of Kathy Lleara and her team of hard-working cooks.  The meal was greatly enjoyed and immensely appreciated by everyone present.

After lunch, Heritage Day continued with the next segment of Heritage Day – Irish history.  Departing from the usual lecture-style, this year’s history segment was a “round-table” discussion.  The assigned topic was Irish immigration in the 20th century, but under the director of the discussion moderator Kate Selyum, the discussion expanded to include 19th century Irish immigration as well as the current immigration of cultures to Ireland today.

The new format for Irish history earned high marks from the Roses as well as the other guests present and looks to become a staple of Irish Heritage Day.

A slight adjustment in the agenda and Irish music was next with guest Chris Pierce, vocalist and drummer for the The Fenians.  Chris talked about Irish music and had brought a few instruments for the Roses to try out their musical skills on.  He ended with an acapella of “Grace” – and had all the Roses hanging on every note.

Heritage Day then moved outside as the next guest – Kevin MacDonnell – talked to the Roses about Irish sports – football and hurling.  He explained the basics and techniques of both sports and then the Roses had a chance to try out a few moves themselves with the football and the hurling stick.

Finally, Heritage Day wrapped with guests Joan Kelly and her daughter Clare teaching the Roses Irish step-dancing.  Though there were a few Roses with background in Irish dance, for most of the Roses, it was an experience to learn something new – and one that had the Roses laughing and smiling as Irish Heritage Day came to a close.

And as expected, the Roses DID learn something new about their Irish heritage and Irish culture…and had fun!

The Roses participated in a group discussion on Irish immigration

The Roses learned about Irish Sports

Irish Step-Dancing is another favorite part of Heritage Day