President’s Greeting
Hello Wisconsin Manx Society,
My name is Georgene Voutila and
I’m the new president of the Wisconsin Manx Society. My mother, Mona Gelling
Voutila, has been a member for a number of years. In fact she gave me a
membership gift annually for many years ----years I never attended a meeting.
I have been attending regularly since a NAMA
Homecoming trip to the Isle of Man in 2000. I look forward to being the
temporary "caretaker" of this organization. I have the same goals as
past presidents have had --- Continuing to share the history and traditions of
our Manx heritage; increasing our membership; and enjoying the fellowship of
our community.
I look forward to getting to know you better and a
good way to do that is for you to attend the meetings. We have a great meeting
planned for October 5th. Hear about the holiday traditions
celebrated on the IOM. Andrew Ravenscroft will give this. Perfect timing to
include a Manx tradition in your holiday planning.
We are lucky to have our next NAMA convention being
held in Chicago August 27-30th 2004. Come to the meetings and read
your newsletters for more information.
Thank You
Georgene Voutila
President Wisconsin Manx Society<
Reminicences of Laxey Picnics
Editor's Note;
A hearty "thank you" to WMS Librarian, Norma Bircher, for all
of her hard work on the organization of this past June's Laxey Picnic.
The following
two personal accounts of memories of Laxey Picnics, past and present, were read at the September 2003
WMS Board meeting. It was unanimously agreed to share them with our Membership.
For those that may not know, Bob Callin was the WMS Founding President.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What can I say about the
Laxey Picnic that can be constructive. I only
remember the Old Laxey picnics and it crowds my memories. We were
young then and it was held at the
cemetery with services by Rev. Kelly. We
spent time cleaning up the grounds. We borrowed 8 or 10 long tables
from St. Joseph's church in Dodgeville.
A neighbor would get them, store them
in a shed overnight, setting them up the next day. Several neighbors would round up 8 or 10 picnic
tables from the neighborhood and set
them up.
Pasties were ordered from
Dodgeville bakery and they were
delivered on Sun at noon. Someone volunteered to make coffee. There
was toilet facilities behind the pines
and someone would make sure a table was
set up for washing hands, soap, towels etc. It was truly a labor of love that
cannot be again as all these people are too old. With govt rules, the bakery can no longer deliver
pasties, Rev Kelly died and all churches have their own services with none extra.
We did have services at the Meth. church in Linden with lunch after which works
out but the services are their regular
services with no Manx participation. It is a
very nice facility to gather but it's still not like the old days.
Going to the cemetery is good but we should have a program there perhaps. Then that entails getting Potty
services which is a lot of expense and responsibility besides someone having to
take on the duty of hand washing things
available. What we did this year is probably the best for now.
Maybe there could be Manx
singing--Manx nat. anthem perhaps. I remember Lily Kelly from the IOM saying
that she never heard all the verses sung until she came here. I thought that
was a compliment. We always had an organ at the cemetery and neighbors formed a
choir and practiced ahead of time.
I think the thing I miss most were the many meetings the committee
had, planning the picnic, meeting in
our homes, visiting, delegating jobs. Many of those people are dead now--esp.
Bob Callin who was the backbone and to me synonomous with Laxey Picnic. My
fervor died with him. I think we held a picnic every 2 years.
It is great that
many still want to continue and it's
good to carry on the traditions. With the facilities at Linden, if all
are satisfied, it should be carried on with some Manx programming and
entertainment. It was good to meet you who did attend.
Roselyn Voigts
Mom asked me to
pass along my thoughts on the Laxey Picnic. I can probably just pass along my thoughts
related to the times I've been involved. After
my Dad passed away the picnic was next driven to occur by the WI
Manx hosting the NAMA Convention in
Madison.
During the year
leading up to that event I organized
and helped on a major clean-up of the cemetery grounds.We got together 5 times prior to that last big
picnic and it was a lot of work. It was all Callin family members and we
enjoyed the time together. I really didn't feel I ever did a whole lot personally
to plan the picnic and was embarrassed
at getting any recognition; a lot of people did a lot more than I did.
Part of what made the old (1970's
and 1980's) picnics successful was the community involvement. It just
reinforces what an incredible neighborhood Bloomfield was (I am expanding that
to include Pine Grove, Punkin Center and Laxey to use some of the old
neighborhood references).
I have always marveled at the awesome blessing it was to
grow up there. It embodied most of what
people mourn as missing from today's "secular/liberal/politically-correct"
society. Neighbors were true friends and you could tell they all enjoyed each other's company. So it just
spilled over into enthusiastic support
and participation in the revival of the Laxey Picnic. I am at a loss at how to
rekindle that from afar.
So in closing, maybe a new format and a different expectation for the picnic would be a good starting point. There
is a lot of interest and desire but a group needs to take ownership to direct
the efforts. I enjoyed the picnic gathering
at Linden, but I also missed gathering at the cemetery
grounds.
I would like to be involved in some capacity with the gathering and will always
work to keep up the grounds whether there's a picnic or not. I've already set the expectation with my son
Andrew that he'll have to take his turn in time at maintaining the grounds,
just as my dad and grandfather did for me. Hopefully a new format will help
create some passion to go with the desire and the planning can become a fun
activity for a larger group of
participants.
Let me know how I can help. Thanks for listening to my ramblings.
Larry Callin
NAMA Youth Award
The Manx North
American [Youth] Award is a triangular shaped three-dimensional block of Manx
black limestone that is carved with the three legs emblem. At each N.A.M.A.
convention one of these prestigious awards from the Isle of Man Department of
Education shall be awarded to a student or a small group of students, 18 or
younger, with Manx family links who makes a contribution to maintaining an awareness of the Isle of
Man and its culture. They must demonstrate interest in one or more
aspects of Manx culture or history which may be evidenced within disciplines of
learning the Manx language, performing Manx music, poetry, dance, drama, or by
sharing knowledge of Manx culture or history through essays.
Nominations will be accepted from an individual N.A.M.A. member or local
societies. Each nomination must be in the form of a one page description of the
nominee's 'body of work' that is evidence of their understanding of the Isle of
Man and its culture through performance. The individuals, or those nominating
them, must also provide a cover letter with names, addresses, and telephone
numbers of three references that may be used by judges. All entries should be
mailed directly to: Mary Kelly, P. O. Box 425, Platteville, WI 53818 and must
arrive by March 31, 2004. - Mary Kelly
Fall Meeting – October 5
One of our favorite IOM natives and
WMS society member, Andrew Ravenscroft, will be presenting an
entertaining program “Holiday Celebrations on the IOM”. Traditions and
holiday recipes will be included in the program. Please bring along your favorite
Manx recipes or traditions.
T J’s Catering from Sauk City will be
again providing an excellent soup and sandwich lunch buffet. The cost is $10.00
per person, payable at the meeting.
SOUP, FRUIT SALAD
BROCCOLI
CASHEW SALAD
SLICED
SMOKED HAM, SLICED TURKEY BREAST
VARIETY
OF FRESH BAKED BREADS, WHIPPED BUTTER, MAYONNAISE, MUSTARD, SLICED TOMATOES,
LETTUCE, AND PICKLES
FRESH
GROUND COLUMBIAN DECAF
LEMONADE
COOKIE
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Web Sites
www.isle-of-man.com/interests/genealogy/nama
www.oocities.org/wisconsinmanx
Membership Secretary Report
Our membership list now has 103
individual or family memberships. That is great but we would like it to grow
even more. Did you know that in April, 39% of renewing members donated a few
extra dollars to WMS? We always
appreciate the donations and encourage others to do the same!
Do you have a friend or
relative who you would like to encourage to join our Society? Why not purchase a year's subscription for
them? It only costs $5.00, gets them on
our list, and just might get them interested enough to continue with the
Membership.
See you in
October. - Judy Schlueter
In Memoriam
Eleanor Reese
Briggs of LaFayette, California passed aaway on May 15, 2003. She was born in Mineral Point, Wisconsin on
November 28, 1918 and was the daughter of Roy and Dora Kelly Reese. She
graduated from Bloomfield Rural School, Mineral Point High School, and the
University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her interests included family history and
trips to explore family connections in Wales, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man.
She was a member of the Wisconsin Manx Society.
She is survived by sister E. Mae
Reese and brother Willard T. Reese, founding members of the Wisconsin Manx
Society; three daughters, Catherine Hanafi, Marilyn Briggs, and Nancy Briggs;
six grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters.