Paddys Day

Gillespies young and old. Godhelpus!

Our Patron Saint made several appearances on the Main Street of Wicklow on various floats in the Annual Parade. WSC played its part too, promoting the Round Ireland with a pirate theme (again!). Thanks  are yet again extended to Tony Gillespie and his troup of helpers, young and older. He especially appreciated the assistance of Brian Sinnott, Jason Moran, Conor Haughton, Mick Mulvihill, Chris and Lukas Norton on March 17th. The Clubhouse and bar were open after the parade and the pints went down well with Kerries famous Irish Stew, on the 2nd coldest Paddys Day in 100 years. The weekend had a real green flavour with all the Irish success in Cheltenham and then lifting the Triple Crown in Twickenham. Well done the Paddys.

Thanks 

Our long suffering Hon. Treasurer, John Hughes, has dipped into his pocket and pulled out a few rabbbits for the benefit of the members. He has agreed to supply ramping for the back door to allow wheelchair access and also, a TV/DVD player for the Round Ireland room to facilitate presentations and idle juniors.Many thanks to John for his generosity. Anyone else able to help with similar donations are always welcome.

BMW Round Ireland

Race starts on Saturday July 1st 2006 - see Round Ireland page for more details

Temple Street Hospital fundraiser night Sat. 2nd April with local band Feedback. Tickets E12 include food, suit all ages - contact Fionnula Malone 0404 47405

Pat and Olivia Murphy's world cruise on Aldebaran

Pat and Olivia (ex-Sutton Dinghy Supplies) are back in Ireland at present and gave a very entertaining talk with a slide/video show in the Club on their progress (30,000 miles to Malaysia) so far. They have had encounters with a man-eating shark, blood bonding with Polynesian tribal folk, survived 3 storms at sea and a variety of other exciting adventures. They made Wicklow their 1st stop on the out leg from Howth, where they made an acquaintence with a very important figure in WSC folklore, Pepper. They head back to their boat shortly and hope to be back with Aldebaran in August 2008, all going to plan. They have promised to stop off in Wicklow and will give another talk on the 2nd leg of their journey after they return - an event well worth attending.

Childrens Officer

The Committee is most grateful to Aishling Carroll for taking on the role of our Childrens Officer for 2006. She has attended the ISA Training course in late January and has reported to the Committee on her role. She will be in contact with the Junior Organiser and the Junior committee to outline her role. All parents and children under the age of 18 should be aware of her availablity. We thank Aishling for assuming this responsibility.She can be contacted at 086 1954763.

Cookery Demonstration

POSTPONED - new date to be confirmed

Our in house Master Chef, Yuri Mc Kenna will wow his fans with a display of culinary skills in the Club on Holy Thursday 13th April at 8.30pm. If you want value for money and expert advice, then put your hand in your pocket for E10 and bring along a few friends as well. Yuri will show you how to get the best results with limited resources in a small kitchen, in a caravan, on a boat or in your holiday apartment etc.

Committee Meetings

Would our members like to be able to read abridged reports of meetings in a members private site? Replies or other views/opinions to the editor please.

Space Inside Arts Club

Coming to the Club this Weds 3rd May at 8 pm we have:-

• Drumming Poets

• Reactive Dance

• A Galway Girl - 1 act play

• Avoca

There will be a raffle on the night. The Arts Club meets in Wicklow Sailing Club every 1st Wednesday and have a varied programme of very entertaining acts - please support them. Anyone wishing to get involved, perform etc should contact Carol Boland at spaceinside@hotmail.com .

Lift-in. Are you ready?

The WSC Cruiser Lift-in on the 29th of April is only about 3 weeks away and our thoughts are starting to stray towards those jobs that have been on the long finger since October. For those owners interested in a bargain, we have access to anti-fouling at very competitive rates (as long as you like Red/White or Black) in 5 litre drums, both hard and eroding. Your correspondent has used many brands over the years and can safely recommend this as the best encountered in all that time. Contact Charlie or Tony for further details (don't leave it too late)

Dr Pat Liston RIP

Former Club President (1961/64), Dr Pat Liston passed away in Australia recently. Our condolences to his family.

Forward Planning

Harry Hermon meets with a group of members in the Round Ireland room

Following the passage of the one off Club Levy, your Committee is now looking to the future of the Club. With this in mind, Harry Hermon, ISA Club Development Officer, gave a talk on formulating a Club Plan on Thursday 9th February. A group of 13 members participated in a round table exercise and from the feedback, it was agreed that we would proceed to conducting a survey of all members, with Harry acting as facilitator.  It is hoped we will start the planning process shortly thereafter, which will properly involve all our members to a greater or lesser extent. This will have many positive aspects to it - a chance for all members to let us know what they want from the club, it will set out a blueprint for the next 5 years, it will help with funding applications and more. 

The Levy only applies to Senior Members (E175 + Sub.) and Family Members (E200 + Sub.). A bar card with E52.50 credit is issued to each of the above category of members - cards are now available from Kerrie at the bar for those members who have paid their levy and subscriptions (or entered into a standing order).

Rugby Matters (so does sailing!)

The excitement continues. Our warriors in Green have gone back to their Blue and Red jersies of Leinster and Munster respectively and both have accounted for tough French opponents to set up a mouth watering Heiniken Cup Semi-Final at Landsdowne Road on April 23rd. Seats at the bar will be at a premium for this cracker in prospect, so get down early and soak up the atmosphere.

Our local Rugby heroes in Wicklow RFC reached the Final of the Remax Provincial Towns Cupbut unfortunately lost 25 - 3 to a stronger Tullamore side on Easter Sunday. A goodly sprinkling of WSC members were in the large crowd but it was one of those days when lady luck didn't smile on them.

.Still in this their 2005/6 "season fantasticus", they beat Tullow RFC in the Final of the South East Cup on Sunday 9th April 6 - 3 (AET). They last won this trophy in 1973 - well worth the wait.