Shrimp Dinners at Redemptorist

It's getting to that time for Lenten dietary adjustments. You know, fish on Fridays. Give up that chocolate. No movies till after Easter. Lent. It seems like we just put the Christmas ornaments away, and here it's Lent already. (wait, we DID just put the Christmas ornaments away. Janet's been after me to vacuum up the artificial Christmas Tree needles up, and move that Santa Claus off of the hutch in the dining room.) Anyway, if you haven't attended a Hibernian Shrimp event, you have missed out on a great Downtown Tradition.

You can't get a better plate of shrimp in the city. Shrimp, baked potato, coleslaw and corn all for an extremely reasonable price. And the company!! I see folks get together yearly at Redemptorist, just for the company. And I usually get to work the foodline. That's my favorite. I love seeing the people. The guys who put the dinner together, Bill Quinn, Don Burnett, Steve Page, John Phelan, Frank Stapleton, Tombo Burke, Jim Callahan, Tom Laughlin and all - it's a great time of working together. Everyone's in such a great mood and the whole thing works together like a machine.

I just look forward to it each year and work as many of them as I can.

Make it a family tradition.

Man shot while in jaws of crocodile

An Australian crocodile farmer who found himself caught in the jaws of a deadly saltwater crocodile is recovering after being accidentally shot by the friend who came to rescue him.
The Northern Territory News reported that Zac Fitzgerald and Jason Grant were collecting eggs in Marrakai Station, about 120km east of Darwin on Tuesday night.
Local police said the crocodile suddenly emerged from the water, grabbing Mr Grant by the lower right arm.
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His colleague Mr Fitzgerald rushed to his aid, shooting at the crocodile and causing it to let go of Mr Grant.
However he then fired again and shot his friend in the upper right arm.
Despite this, their boss from the Darwin Crocodile Farm, Mick Burns, insisted Mr Fitzgerald's actions probably saved the other man's life.
'Jason said to me: 'Thank God he's a good shot',' he told the local paper.
Mr Burns said his injured worker was in good spirits, despite a suspected broken arm and bite damage in addition to the bullet wound.
Mr Burns said: 'His first words to me were: 'I don't think I'll be at work for a couple of days.'

...I believe that this poor fellow has my luck, but he certainly dosen't share my attitude. His saving light is some one who came and shot him while he's being munched on by a prehistoric reptile. And then he's THANKFUL that he was a good shot!! He's gotta be a half-full kind of guy. God bless him!

Pray for decent weather tomorrow!! At least no ice!

Glee in all things Irish

When we start working on the Irish season in earnest, which is just about now, you begin to see the glee in the eyes of the folks who collectively bring their ideas and passions to share around the table. It's a wonderful thing to see, and it seems like you get to share your childhood all over again. This time with a different set of people. And it's sooo good.

I see it with my Hibernian brothers. Their spontaneous idea flow can be hard to keep up with. And we usually get fantastic results and have fun doing it.

I've seen it with the Kansas City St. Patrick's Day Parade team. Talk about a well oiled machine! I had the privelidge to sit in when I could on their board. They have so much to accomplish, you wonder how it will ever result in a parade. Yet, they do it. And they do it with flourishes and extras that you wouldn't think could ever happen. And they are a whole lot of fun!

I have it in my Emerald Isle Parade team in Lee's Summit. We're not at all as professional as our Big brother parade Downtown KC, but we have a great team who knows no border or boundary. All of us are hell bent to bring a great Community event to Lee's Summit, and we want to continue to see the joy in our Community as a result of the parade and related events. We loved seeing the residents of Green Street bring their living room furniture out to the front yard and set up for the parade. Who would have thought that would happen? We saw it continue as we came back down the parade route afterward and saw those same folks still outdoors, now bar-b-queing to fill out the rest of the day. What a perfect day! What fun! What a great family activity!

I think that the common element that I seee in all of the Irish Parade teams, the Bands, the Irish Fest organizers, and our surrounding community is GLEE. Here's what Websters says about Glee:

glee /gli/ noun 1. open delight or pleasure; exultant joy; exultation

To see exultant joy in the eyes of an adult, performing tasks as menial as blowing up balloons, or thinking about how to arrange a stage or what to do with a herd of chihuahuas in a parade line-up is really a satisfying thing. It's Glee. It's GOOD.

Mondays in the retail world

Mondays are blue days. Even on great unseasonal days like today. Aside of the fact that it's really windy today, the temp is unbelievable. The shopping should be grand, but it's just so slow. But that just gives me the chance to do the things that I am supposed to be doing...inventory, flyers and parade clerical work.

By the way, I am selling Elders tickets NOW. The Elders Annual Hooley is going to be at the Uptown Theatre, March 15, 2008 at 7:30 P.M. The tickets are available on-line, but hey, why pay the ticketmaster premium price when you can get them here? I have table tickets for $35.00 each and I have General Admission tickets for $25.00. You know by now, what a great time you'll have! So come on out and purchase your tickets now!

I am also selling tickets to another venue that is close to my heart; The Missouri Valley Folklife Society is producing a Metro Artist Concert, "A Scottish Legacy Night" Singers, musicians and pipers and dancers led by Hazel Whyte. Also featured will be Bill Morris,, David McNally, and Ian McKee from St. Andrews pipe Band. There will be Highland Competition Dancers from Libby Lee's School of Scottish Dance. Brett Gibson, and Shane Borth from the group Flannigan's Right Hook will play too! What a night! All for just $15.00 per ticket. The fun starts Saturday, February 9, 2008 at 8:00 P.M. at the Community Christian Church, 4601 Main Street, in KCMO. (That's the White Frank Loyd Wright Church on the Plaza.) Come on and support MVFS. I have their tickets too!

Finally...for now, Downtown Lee's Summit will have a nice event that day, February 9. The merchants will have a Chocolate Crawl from 10:00 till 5:00 P.M. Collect chocolate all over Downtown, from merchants displaying balloons in front of their shops. And register for your Ultimate Valentine's Day Package including dinner for 2 at Ciao! Bella, Wine and Dessert at Bailey's Wine Bar, a Chocolate basket from A thyme For Everything, a Chocolate Candy Facial from Eye Candy Clinic, and a photo shoot from Couples Photo Shoot. WOW!!! And all that chocolate! See, Lees Summit is coming back and we're a lot of fun! Old Buildings - new ideas.. It all starts here! Come and see!

Welcome to my post!

Gra Geal Mo Chroi...What does it mean? You say that you can't read Gaelic? Well either can I , but I do know a couple of phrases, and this one pertains to the love of my life, my partner in all things, Janet, my wife of 32 years. This phrase translates to "Bright love of my life" or "Love of my Heart" and that pretty much sums it up for me. It also describes another interest in my life, all things Irish. It's my work passion.

So, come on, hitch up and join my post. I'm Chuck Denton and I own an Irish goods store in Lee's Summit Missouri, named for my dad's Grandma and Grandpa, Ruth and Elmer Sullivan, and my wife, Janet's Grandma and Grandpa, Gladys and William Doherty. Our shop is called 'Doherty & Sullivan's Irish Goods.' We are also half of the originators of the Emerald Isle St. Patrick's Day Parade in Lee's Summit. We share this with Mary Pechar of the Green Beauty and Day Spa. (She's my neighbor).

Come on out and visit if you're in the neighborhood. It's a small shop but full of good will and a little gossip. We have a teapot on most every day, and we can evn accomodate a small tea if you are interested. Lee's Summit is a quaint area just recovering from a major home redo that affected every one of its Downtown Merchants. But we're coming back and we can't wait until Spring when warmer weather draws our crowd back to find our new gussied up image, and shops that sprang up over the winter.

On this blog, I plan to include news for our parade team, news about the shop and Irish events happening in Lee's Summit. For instance, Did you know that we are a local source for the Elders tickets? We are delighted to be able to do this for them again. Ask for details by calling me at 816 524-7151. The event is at the Uptown Theatre, on March 15th. Call me for more info! And don't forget to stop by!

CD