Here's the second of our ongoing, semi-regular series of posts from Irish Fest board president Ed Scanlon:"It has been a busy two weeks at Hotel Scanloni. For the last 9 days we have had my wife's and children's cousin (not mine) and his buddy from Australia. Tom Facius and Ben Walters just graduated from University of Western Austraila in Perth. They are now on holiday in the USA for 3 months. After a time in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, New York they found themselves in Chicago. They purchased a 1990 Ford van and drove to KC. They checked into Hotel Scanloni and needed time to do some van repairs and figure out how to register it with the State of Missouri. They have been enjoying the best of Kansas City. The list includes: an evening at the Gaf, Dave's Stage Coach for a band, LC's Bar-B-Que, Pizza 51, The Peanut for wings and BLT. Their list of highlights include, Boulevard Beer, World War 1 Museum, UMKC Kangaroo's basketball game and dinners at the house. My son Spike put a new starter in the van, took them to numerous night spots. Daughter Molly and her husband Ryan showed them a few favorites for music. As the innkeeper I did my damnedest to make them feel comfortable and to join them for a drink as the need presented. Wow, I worked hard at that and can report that I still have a small portion of my liver that has some function left. Great fellers and we had a blast having them around.
Now you are asking yourselves, "what the hell does this have to with the Irish fest?" The last 9 days mirrored Irish Fest. Everyone getting into the act of entertaining guests. Yep the board, committees and volunteers at Irish Fest do exactly that. They open their home (Crown Center). They find you something to eat. They make sure that you are not for want of a drink. They do what ever the budget will stand to entertain you like you've never seen. They are up at the crack of dawn to see that they are ready for you when you arrive at the festival. They are up most of the night making sure that the hotels know that we are there. Check it out this year, ask anyone where you can find a beer, ask them where the food is and they will make sure you are taken care of. That is our goal--to be the best Irish Fest in the world!"
Read Ed Said #1 here.
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If the hospitality my mate Ben and I received at the luxurious Hotel Scanloni is any indication of the style of the KC Irish Fest, it must be one truly spectacular celebration. I recently had to phone Ed for a few cooking tips - trying to recreate one of the delicous meals we had there.
Our old van is still alive, and the eating and drinking we did in KC kept us going for a week on the road to LA, through the ice and snow of the midwest. Thanks again to the Scanlons.
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