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Highland - March 3

Paula Campbell - Community Correspondent
Posted 3/2/20

The Sullivan County Public Library Alliance (SUPLA) is now soliciting applicants to serve as the next Sullivan County Poet Laureate. Applicants must have a history in the arts and a body of previous …

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Highland - March 3

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The Sullivan County Public Library Alliance (SUPLA) is now soliciting applicants to serve as the next Sullivan County Poet Laureate. Applicants must have a history in the arts and a body of previous literary work and be available to serve the one-year appointment.

All applicants must reside in Sullivan County either full or part-time and the Poet Laureate position comes with a modest stipend. The Poet Laureate is a highly visible position and will travel throughout the County to help increase the public's appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry for children and adults.

I have had the opportunity to meet the current Poet Laureate Mark Blackford as he toured the libraries in the County, and he received a well-deserved enthusiastic response everywhere he read his poetry and invited the attendees of his readings to share their poetry.

The deadline for applications is Tuesday, March 31st. To receive the application guidelines and additional information go to mammmakatinglibrary.org.

St Patrick's Day is looming large in a few weeks. When I was a kid, St Paddy's Day was a very big deal and having grown up in Boston, the refrain when you met someone was “are you marching?” (in the big parade). This year will mark the 110th continuous year of the Boston Parade, but the oldest St. Patrick's Day in the US is in St. Augustine, Florida which was recorded holding the first Feast of St. Patrick's Parade in 1600.

The day always started with a high Mass at St Columbkills Church, then a breakfast in the Parish Hall sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians with a performance of Irish Step Dancers and fiddlers. The parade started at 1 p.m. and went through the South Boston neighborhood where we all went to watch or to march.

St. Patrick's Day was always the best day and full of fun and adventures, but the part I cherish the most was after the parade being in the houses of our relatives and having our corned beef, cabbage and colcannon dinner and listening to the stories about their life in Ireland- especially from my grandmother Helen Carty who was born in County Cork and would talk her head off with the assistance of a wee bit of Guinness and then was pretty quiet the rest of the year.

We heard wonderful stories of long-ago friends, relatives and well-known local town rogues who did outrageous crazy things-chasing a stolen pig or jumping into a pond to avoid being arrested. The storytellers would have us all laughing so our ribs ached. Growing up with these struggling hard-working Gaelic speaking immigrants who were so grateful for the opportunities they were given here in America immeasurably enriched my young life.

I was happy to see that The Barryville Area Arts Association will be holding “Celebration of Irish History” on Saturday, March 7th from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event plans to get to the bottom of all the myths surrounding St. Patrick (Spoiler Alert-his birth name was Maewyn Succat and he was most likely born in Scotland or Wales and was captured by pirates and taken across the Irish Sea and sold into slavery, and no he didn't drive the snakes out of Ireland) and to honor the many accomplishments of Irish poets and writers like Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and William Butler Yeats.

It's a known fact that the City of Dublin is the birthplace of more Noble Prize Winners in Literature than anywhere else. The Celebration will also include an exhibit of artwork by well-known Irish painters including James Barry, Hugh Hamilton and Nicholas Burke.

The Celebration of Irish History will take place at the Artists Market Community Center, 114 Richardson Avenue, in Shohola. The event is free and refreshments will be served (including a wee bit of Guinness I hope!) For more information, go to www.barryvilleareaarts.org.

And if you feel the overwhelming urge to march in a St. Patrick's Day parade, don't for the “unofficial” official parade that is taking place in Yulan on Sunday March 15th starting at noon!

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