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gearing up for the 2008 Church Hill Irish Festival
02/11/2008 9:26 AM by John M
A message from the organizers of the upcoming Irish Festival:
Hello Everyone! We folks who are planning the 2008 Church Hill Irish Festival, March 29 & 30, (23rd year) hope you as neighbors will let us know what we can do to make the festival more enjoyable for everyone this year! We appreciate your years of support and look forward to your comments. We plan to once again hold the festival in the four blocks spreading from 25th and East Broad. We meet every Sunday after the 1030 Mass at St. Patrick’s Church, please feel free to join us. Thanks,
Stokes (804-356-1093, stokesmccune@aol.com)
Such events as this festival and others this allow us to show off C.H. to the public and celebrate our wonderful community.
Would anyone interested in developing a Church Hill community house flag that could be flown during such festival, holidays and special events?
I have seen such flags in other communities in Richmond and elsewhere and think it is a great idea – as it shows community cohesiveness and pride. JJ
Where does the money go from this festival? Does the money made benefit CHA or just the church?
While I commend your commitment to the community, John, I feel that CH house flags reek of “burbs.” Very cookie cut-out. I like the one-off feeling of the homes up here and the uniqueness in the community.
The church donates to many different areas with the proceeds, including to the CHA and Crime Watch. I cannot remember where all the funds went to for last year, but it was multiple organizations. You should email Stokes for more information (stokesmccune@aol.com).
John,
Where are you in the project about the house plaques? I like that idea much better than flags. I agree with Norma Jean on the burbs feel. HRF started a program years ago on their rehab properties where the name of the owner, possible occupation and date were attached to the houses. This is more interesting and topical. You still can see many of them around, including one on my house.
Just so we’re all on the same page, we’re going to protest the Irish Festival, right?
I mean it’s way louder and creates much more of an inconvenience for the community than Black Sunday and we all hate that, right?
Oh wait a minute . . . I forgot that it’s okay for white people to play loud music and block the streets. My bad – I’m never going to remember all these Church Hill rules.
I agree Bill but was waiting for mid-spring/summer on the historic plaque project and just was just testing the water on the house flags.
On the plaques, I have 3 companies that will do them very reasonably but need about 20 more folks to joing me in the inagural group, that way we all get a biggest discounts.
We can research the homes for the folks (at a slight cost) or they can do it themselves with ACORS guidance.
More soon. JJ
JES — If you’re under the impression that people don’t bitch and moan about the Irish Festival, you are quite mistaken. Stokes is far too nice and polite to say it, but people (neighbors) make it hard to put on this event every year. Of course, I expect that you will reject this reality and substitute your own because it doesn’t necessarily jibe with your personal persecution complex.
I hope they do bitch and moan – it’s only fair.
Comparisons to anything else aside, the organizers have put the word out, are inviting comment, and have asked folks to join in the planning. This is a good approach, no?
It’s a great approach, actually. I hope that the opposed will go to the planning meetings and will be given as much consideration as those who support the festival.
My, my my, the “card” must be played at every opportunity mustn’t it?
“no dogs or Irish allowed”
JES:
Why don’t you go to the planning meetings for the Irish festival? I’m sure they would welcome your concerns and you would feel better, I hope.
Here’s some love, JES- I’ll be the first to bitch. I enjoy the Irish Festival but I do not enjoy the ensuing drunkenness that comes with it. I think the lack of police presence in the residential areas (where they all park) is an area that could be improved.
Norma Jean: I think you’ve missed my point. My beef is not with the Irish Festival. My beef is with the hypocritical folks on Church Hill that try to shut down things like Black Sunday and Inner City Blues, but support the Irish Festival and Acappella (I know, I know – not everyone does – but those that do seem to be in the majority). I was just using the Irish Festival as a platform from which to jump into this conversation.
JES — I think we’re all familiar with this particular refrain. In my opinion, though, picking the Irish festival as your whipping boy to make your point is unfair for the reasons that john_m has mentioned. The Irish festival actively seeks input and comment from the community in several ways each year and tinkers with the program in an effort to accommodate concerns. I don’t think the same can be said of the Black Sunday program (Of course, to be fair, they haven’t been doing it as long, so they may not have had the opportunity to develop the same kind of organizational structure the Irish festival folks have). Now, I’m quite sure that there are some complaints that the Irish festival can’t address — I doubt that they’re going to shut down if that’s what one or two neighbors want. The Irish festival is too important to the Church (and the collection of local charities to which the Church contributes) financially. But, from what I have seen from a distance, they do make an effort to address every reasonable concern each year. For that, they should be commended and, I think, they should be a model for other gatherings up here, including Black Sunday.
I also echo the comment that any concerned folks should show up after mass on Sunday at St. Patrick’s (at around 11:30). Talk to Stokes. Have a cup of coffee. Meet the people that run this thing. I expect you’ll be impressed by their openness to your concerns.
You could even show up for Mass, you will be warmly welcomed.
“JES: Why don’t you go to the planning meetings for the Irish festival?” Because the “I am just here to complain because some people complained on a blog about Black Sunday” argument may not really be taken seriously. But you know what is nice, that there actually is a forum so that your infantile view can be heard. The neighbors around Chimbo were never afforded that opportunity were they?
RACE! (I had to throw that in so you would continue reading…)
Did you ever think that if the organizers of Black Sunday had held a meeting such as this to explain exactly what the festival was about the community might have been more positive about it? No you probably don’t… it’s a race thing right?
Now, the Irish Festival has been going on for how many decades? It’s a charitable event sponsored by a Church. I doubt they really need to explain what the event is for and what you can expect there but they still open themselves up to criticism in a public forum.
And what’s makes Inner City Blues a “black†issue and Accapella a “white†issue? Other than your typical race-baiting? One was an established business that failed (not a great economic indicator…) the other had questions mostly regarding the construction/renovation, lack of permits, and again lack of communication with the community. I would hate to see what a community would look like if anyone could come in and build anything without the neighborhood questioning them and holding them to the standard of the law.
“I was just using the Irish Festival as a platform from which to jump into this conversation†Really? This conversation? This conversation was mostly about a community looking forward to a fun afternoon. This conversation was about a few neighbors airing concerns about noise, parking, drinking. This conversation wasn’t divisive, ignorant, or insulting until you decided to “jump on inâ€.
Sorry Mike – you’re totally right. I’m an ass.
JES, Your comparisons and concerns are well taken, but I don’t believe restaurants and festivals should be referred to in the same sentence. Though I live close by to the Irish Festival, I personally don’t have a problem with Festivals. Neighbors should be more tolerant, whether it’s the Black Sunday festival, Irish festival, or Italian festival, and I believe, most are. But I’m not going to tell them to “move” it they don’t like it. They are a two day event, raise money for good causes, then are over by evening. It’s also part of “Urban living”throughout the country. However, restaurants with alcohol and loud music are completely different. I believe the immediate neighbors have a right to complain about them whether its Inner City Blues or Aceppellas. Bands start playing at 10pm and normally don’t stop until 2:00am. Then you have the loud drunken patrons leaving the premises at 2 or 3 in the morning causing more commotion, and this is on a daily basis, not once or twice a year. That’s really not fair to a neighborhood, nor is it compatible. Also keep in mind that Black Sunday got much support, just a few nay sayers, as other festivals also have. And most, repeat, most, but for argument sake, not all, of the people supporting the loud hoopla at Accapella’s are self serving and don’t seem to have respect for the immediate neighbors complaints. One of the comments in a previous thread was “they don’t care about the noise”, they want it. So please let’s try to not turn this into a black/white issue. There’s always the few but try not to generalize.
Mike – by saying what I said, I was hoping to make people see the hypocrisy in some the ideas that float around on CHPN. I never intended to be ignorant or insult anyone. I hope that I didn’t.
I love the Hill. I’ve lived here for quite some time and have no plans on leaving anytime soon.
I find that there is a lot of “not in my neighborhood” mentality among the white folks on the Hill when it comes to black events and establishments that cater to the black community. I find it hard to believe that it is all because the blacks don’t communicate with the neighborhood like the whites do. It makes me sad. I moved to the hill because I was tired of all the young cookie-cutter white people in the fan. I thought the hill would be different and, in a lot of ways, it is. I wish more than anything that we could get past all of the race-related issues that separate our community. I say race-related, but I think it’s more class-related. We have to accept everyone in this community whether they fit into our vision of the perfect neighborhood or not. There never is a conversation on CHPN that is devoted just to that issue. So, I feel the need to put a little of it into every conversation that I think it relates to.
I was only trying to get a dialog started.
“I forgot that it’s okay for white people to play loud music and block the streets.”
Not the greatest way to get a dialog started. No one likes to be accused of racism when it’s not true, whether your white or black.
I’ve mentioned this before on another thread, but the need to polarize our community by some commenters on this site illustrates the polarization in our country. I halfway expect to see a witch pyre or stock set up in one of the parks up here to persecute the “bad” neighbors. Remember the message in The Crucible?
I don’t believe that most are ultra-left or ultra-right, I think most of us are somewhere in the middle.
My wish is to see more middle ground comments on this site. And for some folks to stop with the moralistic speeches.
That would be the start of a dialog.
Soooo….did anyone really want to talk about the Irish Festival?
Okay, um, back to the flags…they are not always burb-ish: I previously lived in Tampa Heights, Tampa, FL’s oldest best -address neighborhood right outside Ybor City, which is now almost totally forgotten & those of us who were making a comeback in it had a great community organization with really well designed, unique flags. They were not neon or plastic. It was a great feeling to see one flying when you started to get down on how far the neighborhood had to ((& still has!)) to go. Tampa Heights Neighborhood Association has a website, too,FYI. Just to give a different viewpoint.
CMT:
After having gone on the Tampa Heights site and looking at their flags, with all do respect, I stick by my first comment against flags.
Besides we all know God hates flags
. . . that’s funny
Is this thread about our comments/hopes for/complaints about the Irish festival, or is this the official JES soapbox?
Hmmm…at first I was not going to post on this thread because 1) I didn’t have a question and 2) because I didn’t disagree strongly with much that had been said. Then I got to thinking that it’s just that attitude which makes these thread seem so divisive and argumentative. There’s no sense in posting if you’re not going to argue. Well, I happen to agree with most of what most of the posts here said. For example, I thought both #7 and #11 raised good points. That said, although it’s entertaining to read, it seems to me like
I cannot tell for sure if this comment thread is about the Irish festival but my request would be to discount admission for residents of Church Hill. If you are going to use our roads/parking/space why not cut us a break in return (free drink ticket?). You might even get more locals to walk over.
As for JES, Ireland isn’t just for “white” people anymore, read all about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_people_in_Ireland
Seriously though, free drink ticket please.
There is no admission, only a 2$ donation is requested at the door. It is a donation, so you don’t have to donate, but it’s only two bucks!
what is black sunday?
>> Black Sunday
I love the Irish Festival! It is something my whole family comes in for every year and one of my favorite parts about living in Church Hill.
Keep up the great work, Stokes, St. Patrick’s and all of the supporters.
I am more than willing to pay the donation and the drink tickets — it’s all for a good cause, and great entertainment in our neighborhood.
THANK YOU for all of the hard work to have a great weekend!
Irish Festival proceeds info – direct from the official Press Release:
Proceeds benefit the St. Baldrick’s Society and their fight against childhood cancer, the Church Hill Association, the Church Hill Crime Watch, Richmond Hill, Child Saver’s Clinic of Richmond, the St. Peter’s Meals Program, and many other neighborhood causes. Proceeds also benefit the historic preservation of St. Patrick’s Church, a “little church with a big heart†built in the 1850’s by Irish Immigrants to Richmond, and its outreach programs.
I have volunteered at the festival for about 5 years and this year worked on food prep. I am astonished at how hard these people work to bring a great time that helps define Richmond’s diversity. I encourage all to think about the logistics of raising money for charity like this.
I’m not from Church Hill, and I’m jealous that you have festivals and reasons to come together and have fun together. I can’t imagine anything like this in the sterile suburbs coming off with any sucess.
I know Stokes will try to meet any and all concerns of the neighbors. But really, free drink coupons? It’s a fundraiser for charity!
Mike,
There is no better time to think about moving up to the greatest neighborhood in Richmond! Come and join us (and you wouldn’t have to drive all the way from the west end and spend all that money on gas)and be a part of the friendliest neighborhood in town. As a qualifier, I am a real estate agent, so I’m partial…but give me a call if you would like to see what the neighborhood has to offer.