Auld Lang Syne

As I mentioned some weeks ago, the Kansas City Irish Fest board of directors recently elected our new officers for the next two year term. I'm delighted that beginning tomorrow the new president of the board will be my old buddy Ed Scanlon. I've been proud to call Ed a friend since long before there were Irish Fests in Kansas City. We've built championship St. Patrick's Day parade floats together, helped to build Irish Fest together and emptied more pint glasses along the way than I can count. He bleeds green, white, and orange and I have no doubt will be an outstanding president. If you don't know Ed, you'll meet him right here tomorrow.

In the last three years that I've served as president (we also just approved the two year term limit, making me I suppose, sort of the FDR of the KCIF) it's been one of the great pleasures of my life to watch Irish Fest rise from the mud of our first year rain-out to become the premier festival of any kind in our city. I'm grateful to have had and to continue to have the chance to help a little in that growth.

The office of president being a largely ceremonial one, my job with Irish Fest won't be changing a whole hell of a lot. I'll continue to serve as director with the greatest board I could ever imagine being a part of. I'll still be here manning the keyboard at Tir na Blog, the only place you'll get the inside scoop into all things Irish Fest, as well as lots of completely useless information and silliness as a bonus. You'll still be buying (I hope) my poster, T-shirt and cap designs at the Fest. And you'll still see me running like a lunatic from place to place over Irish Fest weekend. I will miss the title "president", though. A friend of mine suggested recently that I needed some sort of honorary and completely meaningless post-presidency honorific and suggested "Monsignor". I kind of like it.

So a very Happy New Year to you all. I hope to see you tonight at Cafe & where we can raise a glass to ourselves and our good company, to the Irish Fest we love so much, and to the promise of a grand 2007.

Míle buíochas. Tóg go bog é.