May 2011 - Irish American News

May 2011 Irish American News “We’ve Always Been Green!” 35Some of you might have been confusedlast month. I accidently sent mycolumn from last year. Sorry about that.Here is what really happened this year.Enjoy! (I was bound to make one mistakein the 2 years I’ve been doing this.)Well my St. Patrick’s Day (paradeweekend) was amazing as usual. On Saturday,I got up bright and early, stoppedat the Hilton to meet up with the rest ofmy family. We all headed to the parade.As, I turned the corner and saw the lineof floats, a wave of excitement rushedover me. I ran to the Irish Fellowshipfloat so I could get a good seat. After alittle while I decided to check out someof the other floats. I ran into some of myfriends who were riding on a differentfloat. I had to take a few pictures for myschool newspaper. I realized the paradewas getting ready to start, so I rushedback to take my place. I yelled “HappySt. Patrick’s Day” and waved until myarm hurt. It wasn’t too cold. A lot betterthan last year, but my feet were freezing.Then it was the long walk back to theHilton for the Mercy party. I ate whenwe got there before my sister and I had toget ready to dance. We had to practice tofigure out which dances we were goingto do. After we danced, I ran around andplayed with my cousins, brother, and sister.We had a great time. After the party,we all headed to Aurelio’s in the southloop. It was delicious as always.On Sunday, I was off to ArlingtonHts. to meet some Mullane dancers. Wedanced at a party at Our Lady of theWayside. Our performance was great. Itwas great to dance just for fun. I love thetwo hand reel. I also liked tipping reel,which is a dance with no music and onlythe beat of the hard shoe is heard. Thenwe were off to Peggy Kinnanne’s to helpthem celebrate their 10th anniversary.I’d like to thank Derek for taking goodcare of us. We ate some delicious foodand danced another wonderful performance.Everyone did a great job. It wasa fabulous St. Patrick’s weekend filledwith dancing and family.I also wanted to congratulate thisyear’s St. Patrick’s Day queen, SarahGorecki. I saw her a few years ago whenshe was a just a princess. She playedBelle in a community theater versionof Beauty and the Beast. I don’t think Iwill ever have a voice as beautiful as hers,but I hope I can follow in her footstepsand be queen!Oh, I almost forgot, I went to St.Louis for 2 feises and I got a first, finally!I actually got firsts both days, but theywere both in my slip jig. Now I only needto get firsts in 3 more dances to get intoPC level. I went to Milwaukee for a feisand got another first, but it was in my slipjig, again. I did qualify for oireachtas.Now I can start practicing early.I also went to my first White Soxgame of the season. It was so much fun!It wasn’t too cold and I had a deliciousItalian ice. The Sox won, too. It was icingon the cake. It was good to be back,but I wish it was warmer. I have somesad news. You may remember that I’vementioned Bev’s hot dogs in a few ofmy columns. Her hot dogs are amazingand spring isn’t spring without having ahot dog from her cart. She died recently.I just wanted to take a moment to rememberher. So please keep her familyin your prayers.Happy anniversary to my grandmaand grandpa. They have been married50 years this month. Happy Mother’sDay to my mom and all the other momsout there!Daniel O’DonnellContinued from Page 33ferent parts of Ireland. Donegal hastremendous scenery you know. I loveCork, and actually the whole coast.Since it’s such a small country you canget around it very easily. It just takesforever to go around. The whole coastis beautiful. Been all around it. It’s sohard to pick places to say that one isbetter than the other.IAN: Where haven’t you been in Irelandthat you would still like to see?D: Well, I haven’t been to the giantcauseway, I have been meaning to goand see it but haven’t had a chance.IAN: So in the United States, is thereplaces you like here?D: You know when your on the road,you don’t get a lot of time to see a lot ofplaces. As far as holidays or vacation, Ihaven’t been on many holidays since Iwas 4. Mostly we toured on them. I dohave to say, I like to eat. I love to eat Isuppose. I’ve been to San Francisco andenjoyed it. Went to Las Vegas and justthought it was super. And we spent a lotof time in Missouri. I guess thats what Iknow better cause we spent a lot of time.I suppose we like the small town feeland the people are very nice. The localpeople were just very welcoming.I know I said we don’t see a lot, butI love the variation there is by travelingacross the country. The Midwest isvery flat and you get into Pennsylvania,and it’s so very beautiful. My its justlovely to see all the different terrains.And coming through Iowa, so manydifferent farms, the ones with the bigbarns with you know the… it might notmean anything to you but we see themin the pictures.IAN: So what would be your adviceto someone who is trying to break intothe music industry?D: Well, if I was gonna tell anybodywhat to do, it would be whatever challengeyou have yourself, whatevervoice you have yourself, you shouldput caution to it all. Don’t try to belike somebody else. I think the maturityof self and your sound should be thebest thing.IAN: Is there anything you wouldlike to say to the audience here?D: We are very grateful for the supportyou folks have given us over theyears since we got ours shows here onPBS and the people who have cometo see us. Since PBS has given us ahuge platform and wider audience. Sovery grateful to people to coming toour shows and supporting my career.We are looking forward to singing foryou soon!www.danielodonnell.com.