Hey Folks, Over the last couple of days I have spoken with a lot of people who came up and took the time to say a simple thank you to us for rejuvenating Canadas Irish Festival on the Miramichi. Your words are appreciated and fueled us to reach higher than we initially thought we could. Now it is our turn: Thank You to everyone who came out in record numbers to support, what seemed a little wild in October, our decision to radically change the course of the festival. The proof is in the pudding and you guys are the only reason we were able to pull it off. Thank You to the City of Miramichi for believing in us. They never once said No to anything we threw their way...They embraced our idea and helped us execute the plan. The guys and gals from the various city departments who went above and beyond, I tip my hat to you all. Without your efforts, people power and equipment, it wouldnt have happened. Over and above our committee, there are a whack of you folks to thank who gave of yourselves with a few hours here and a few hours there. We attempted to invite new volunteers to the table this year. With new people, come new ideas and energy. To those who gave of themselves for the first 30 years, a huge Thank You...We hope we made you proud as we move in to the future...To our new folks who came aboard Thank You...We literally went on a call centre inspired phone, facebook, email and twitter campaign and reached out to people for help. We were NEVER turned down. People worked their schedules around us and gave of themselves. Wow! Kelly and Blaine were instrumental in the look of our venues with their skills. Thank You! A social media blitz yesterday as we cleaned up Waterford Green landed us folks who wandered down and said I hear you need some help. There are 1000 reasons why I love Miramichi, that will always be number one. We help each other. It was awful work in blazing heat and people still came down. Imagine. We attempted to turn beautiful St. Michaels Basilica in to a world class concert venue and feature a world class show. We did both. It was out of this world and we look forward to seeing where this new angle take us. The profile and awareness of our festival was taken to new heights with our media partners. We were everywhere for a month. We have done interview after interview, taken picture after picture and it was all appreciated. That is usually a good sign when people reach out to you to get the details about what your festival will offer. Alexanne, MacRae and Tyson, our summer employees, were absolutely key in pulling this wild idea off. These three young folks, are too young to remember the good ol days of the festival and have grown up with the peaks and valleys of recent years. On day one, we looked them all in the eye and said this is a wild idea and you will speak to people who will call us all crazy, but we need you to believe in what we are doing and work hard to pull it off. They did. They were shoulder to shoulder with us from the outset and added a youthful energy that fueled us to keep going. I dont say this lightly, but if these three are any indication of the next generation, we are in good hands. We mean that and they deserve to hear it from us. Our sponsors and in kind partners were key to our success. Without their support of our vision, we would be in a different place this morning. Thanks to Miramichi History Museum, Saltwater Sounds and Royal Canadian Legion. We opened up new doors with new partners and we look forward to growing in the years to come. We attempted to return the fencing we borrowed from Sutherlands Excavating Ltd. and when we arrived, the gate to their yard was locked. It was the worst feeling for about 2 minutes until a lad pulled in, who knew the lad with the key and then 5 minutes later returned with the lad and the key. Sunday afternoon, 30 degree heat and we were back in business. Imagine. We were staring at a bunch of stuff that need to be moved Saturday morning and with a phone call to Station Wharf, there was a gentlemen who showed up with the right equipment for the job and then he carried on. From phone call to arrival...2 minutes...Only in Miramichi. There were so many happy nice little stories to tell, I could go on for days. Bottom line folks, we set a new course in October of last year and have navigated new waters with help from a lot of people. You can trust the we learned a lot from 2014 and while it was a rousing success, there are indeed a few things we have noted that we will work on, improve and do better with. That is natural. We knew we wouldnt be perfect and are smart enough to learn from our mistakes. Cheers, Paddy Quinn, Chopper Robinson and our 2014 Staff and Board
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 11:44:49 +0000
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