DONALD TEUMA CASTELLETTI
CALUMET ISLAND
March 10, 2018
A community on the island decided to host their Irish celebrations a week early this year, by holding a new kind of party for their town.
St. Anne’s Parish Catholic Women’s League held their first Pre-St. Paddy’s Kitchen Party on Saturday, complete with lots of live music, an Irish stew and of course, the option to BYOB to keep the fun well-oiled.
“We’re trying something different, something new and something fun for our locals,” said Joan Derouin, president of the CWL.
Receiving lots of help from CWL members, as well as volunteers from the community, Derouin was excited for the potential of their first party of this kind, especially when the hall was near full just a half hour past the starting point.
She explained that the group usually has two fundraisers every year, one in March and one in November. When the idea was brought forward to start a new party, it seemed like this would be an excellent opportunity.

A lot of their efforts were the group just trying out what works this year – especially the musicians. The original plan was to hold an open mic, but when the call went out for volunteers, there was an overwhelming response.
So it was decided to hold a drop-in style stage, where musicians were welcome to hop onstage and sing a song or join whoever was playing as they pleased. The organizing committee was aware of seven people who were registered to join them, but expected a few more to drop in and belt out a tune or pick a few strings, too.
Guitar players, keyboard tappers, accordion wielders and a few singers ruled the stage at the Municipal Hall, and with their mixings of classic Irish tunes and old school hits, the audience was quickly tapping their feet or singing along.
Derouin said that the evening party wasn’t just a lot of fun to host, but turned out to be just as much a good time to prepare for.
“We’ve been working since yesterday for this,” said Derouin. “There’s been lots of laughter and even dancing while the musicians were setting up yesterday.”
St. Anne’s CWL was excited for the support their event received, in volunteers and attendance, and hope to bring the event back next year. Money raised from the party will support the parish, their youth and senior projects, their Catholic missions abroad, plus other community organizations.
“We have found that we have lots of great energy and enthusiasm, a terrific team in the kitchen and lots of musicians,” said Derouin. “It’s fun to do a fundraiser around St. Paddy’s Day because everyone is joyful, even if they’re not Irish.”