Ceili of the Valley Society was busy this summer in many community events.
At festivals in Salem:
At Cedar Village Assisted Living Facility:
Fun at schools:
Starting the kilt
Dancing in the streets:
Summer 2017 – Celtic Happenings
All posts by Secretary
Don’t Rain On My Walk-About
St. Patrick’s Day Walk-about – March 2017
Samhain Festival Soup Recipes
As promised, below are the yummy soup recipes from our Festival.
RECIPES for 50
Bubble and Squeak (Welsh)
12# chicken meat
9# potatoes (cooked & diced)
10 quarts chicken stock
8 cabbages (chopped=24 cups)
12 cloves garlic (diced)
2# onions (diced)
10# cooked diced ham
3# bacon (cooked & chopped)
4# cooked turnips (chopped)
2-3 cups water ( if needed)
Salt & pepper
—-adapted from cookbook; Celtic Folklore Cooking by Joanne Asala (1998)
Cock-a-leekie Soup (Scottish)
12# chicken meat
10 quarts chicken stock
36 leeks (chopped)
5 cups rice
5# pitted prunes
5 cups chopped parsley
3-5 cups water if needed
—adapted from cookbook; Celtic Folklore Cooking by Joanne Asala (1998)
Potato Soup (Irish)
1# butter
5 cups diced onions
5 cups diced scallions
15 cups peeled, diced potatoes
5 tsp salt
2 leaves of bay leaf
5 sprigs of each: fresh thyme, rosemary, parsley
4 1/2 quarts vegetable stock
5 cups whole milk
—-adapted from cookbook; The Ballymaloe Cookbook by Myrtle Allen (1989)
Samhain Celtic New Year Festival
The Céilí (Kay-lee) of the Valley Society hosted its inaugural Samhain (pronounced SOW-en) Celtic New Year Festival with an evening concert on October 22, 2016 in Salem, Oregon. The small, but mighty family-friendly festival highlighted crafts, music, dance and culture from the six Celtic Nations (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and Isle of Man). We hope to make this an annual Salem event.
Thanks to all the community members that attended, vendors, instructors, and demonstrators. We couldn’t have done it without our amazing volunteers. Special thanks to Marion-Polk Food Share in letting us use their wonderful kitchen to prepare our soups.
Céilí of the Valley Society received support from the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Samhain Festival was partially funded by the following Granters:
- Fred W. Fields Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation
- Marion Cultural Development Corporation, and
- William S. Walton Charitable Trust Grant
Lucky’s September Vacation
Did you notice Lucky was missing at September’s Céilí? He was on vacation with Céilí of the Valley’s Board Members Carl and Ginny in Ireland.
Irish Social & Scottish Dancing with Ceili of the Valley Society
It’s as simple as 3’s and 7’s. Fun for all ages. Video by Bill Cruscial of CCTV.
Santiam Senior Center
Our Céili Response Team was spreading the Craic at the Santiam Senior Center event! Thanks to all the wonderful volunteer dancers for putting smiles on faces of our seniors!
5th annual St. Patrick’s Day Walkabout
A small and mighty clan braved the elements on Salem’s 5th annual Saint Patrick’s Day walkabout through the park and Salem downtown. The event was a wee bit before St. Pat’s day, sponsored by Céili of the Valley Society on Saturday- March 12th. Even as the sky dumped liquid sunshine, The Willamette Valley Pipe and Drums (formerly Oregon Defense Force Pipe & Drum Band) led the crazy Green Bunch downtown from Riverfront Park.
March Madness Ceili
There was loads of fun for all at our March Céili & Céili of the Valley Society’s 10 year anniversary. Thanks to Sam Keator for coming to our rescue to call at our céili when our original caller had an emergency. We had super lively music from Cary and Hanz (which we were lucky since he will be moving to the East coast soon). Thanks all for coming and making March céili a party to remember.
We were treated to wonderful step dancing performances during our break. https://youtu.be/vUB6RLJd64M
Irish Social & Scottish Dancing with Ceili of the Valley
It’s as simple as 3’s and 7’s. Fun for all ages. CVS thanks Bill Cruscial of CCTV for the video.