Rotary Log for March 16, 2017

 
Rotary Log for Meeting of March 16, 2017
By Richard Greulich
Photos by Tube Loch
 
 
President James “Paddy” O’Petersen rang the gong to open our pre-St. Patrick’s Day weekly meeting. And, ooooh, what a luvly sound t’was to the ears of the Rotarian lassies and laddies in attendance! For it meant they were soon to enjoy an authentic Irish Dance show. Details will follow.
 
We were sure songstress Donna Lewallen meant to lead us in “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” But the ensuing choral performance sounded more like “America the Beautiful”. Greeter Dave Underhill forged ahead with the 4-Way Test. You know, the one that starts with “Is It the Irish Truth?” Sara Treacy gave a beautiful invocation.
 
 
Guests (and Rotarian hosts) included Maddie Warren (Aileen Dugan), daughter Katrina Dugan (Aileen), spouse Pam Smith (Bob Smith), spouse Louise Richardson (Basil Richardson), Pat Chadwick (Ed Mallon), Katia Keistead (Bob Sheesley), and daughter Olivia Peterson (President James).
 
Two Rotarian birthdays were celebrated. Jim Downes is a recent new member. Eric Weinrieb has been with us for eight years.
 
President James led the announcements by thanking Dick Seery for donating a washer/dryer to a needy recipient. Ramona Dow secured its appropriate placement.
 
 
Leo Gagnon said that winter weather forced our next Social Hour to be postponed. It’s been rescheduled for March 28 at the Atlantic Grill. Hoping for a round of free drinks, Leo shamelessly reminded us of his birthday the following day.
 
 
Ben Wheeler reported back from the New England Presidents-Elect Training Seminar. The event reinforced his observation that our club stacks up pretty high in most respects. Ben’s future administration will widen the use of metrics to capture the extent of our club’s service efforts. For example, our community service will be measured not just by dollars contributed but also by man-hours expended.
 
 
Golf Chair Peter Grace redeemed himself by delivering the shortest announcement on record. He congratulated John Pratt for re-enlisting Waterstone Retail, a premier sponsor of the event.
 
 
To facilitate collection of more can tops, Joanie Nickerson is offering hand designed glass jars. Suggested jar locations are work places and homes.
 
 
Happy Dollars flowed like green beer at an Irish wake! Tricia Cummings’ daughter, Grace, is now 15 years old. John Lyons lauded Portsmouth High School’s basketball prowess. The team is vying for the Division 1 State Championship. Bob Sheesley’s daughter is now 18 years old and headed for college in New York City. Prez James celebrated the attendance of daughter Olivia and the return of long-time member Bill Mortimer.
 
 
The $61 raffle was snagged by the Walter Liff Cabal. Their emissary, Al Lantinen, lacked the requisite Irish luck so no match ensued.
 
IRISH DANCE
 
 
Cuzzin’ Richard introduced guest speaker John Grimes. Apparently John’s grandfather, Johnny Grimes, once operated a market store in Dover. While at UNH a much younger Cuzzin’ Richard frequented the establishment in search of food, a four letter word that sounds a lot like beer.
 
 
The current generation John Grimes was introduced to Irish Dance by his sisters upon their return from a vacation in the old country. He took to it like soda bread to one’s stomach lining. John quickly garnered recognition at the regional, national and international competitive levels. Perhaps the pinnacle of his performing career was as a cast member of the world-famous “Riverdance” troupe.
 
 
John now operates the McDonough-Grimes Irish Dance School in Dover. Four of his pupils (three female and one male) accompanied John to our meeting. John used their dance performances to introduce us to five different styles of Irish Dance.
 
 
  1. Soft Shoe Dancing. As the name implies, done with a minimum of the usual floor pounding.
  2. Skip Jig. Many Irish dances are jigs. This one was done in 9/8 time. The result was best described as the “ballet of Irish Dance”.
  3. Contemporary Step Dance. Think Kilkenny Races interpreted by an agile and floor-clicking male dancer.
  4. Traditional. As stated.
  5. Triple Jig. The usual light jig is fast but easy to perform. This Triple Jig was slower but the steps were much more complex and difficult to navigate.
 
John climaxed the program with his own rendition of a brief part of the “Riverdance” repertoire. In all, it was a great show of athleticism and lyricism, undergirded by the Irish soul.
 
 
In response to an audience question on avoiding injuries, John noted an important aspect of competitive Irish dance. That would be to show your heels. In other words, the turning outward of one’s feet by 90 degrees. According to John, the key is to turn the legs from the hip down. This alleviates undue stress on the knees and feet. 
 
There! Knowing that (and after shaving off 30 pounds and an equal number of years) we should be ready. Now we can begin our own Irish Dance journeys!
 
Respectfully submitted, Richard Greulich
 
 
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