Our next general meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 2 at the Sparks Elks Lodge, 517 S. Rock Blvd in Sparks. The program will include a presentation of another Irish County by Chip MacLeod. All attendees will be asked to mention something Irish related during as part of an "Irish Moment." All attendees are asked to bring a finger food to share. We will also be voting on our Irish Person of the Year and holding nominations for officers to serve the next biennium at this meeting. The Irish Person of the Year will be honored at the St Patrick's Day Dinner on March 10 (info below). Elections for officers will be held at the March 1 General Meeting and will be introduced at the St. Patrick's Day Dinner.

Irish Person of the Year Nominees:

The following are the three nominees along with a statement of support from the person(s) who nominated them:

TERRY FEGAN (nominated by Kathleen Eagan) Terry, the owner of The Isles, has supported our local Celtic community for years catering functions, donating space for local musicians and being the friendly face to visitors - Celtic and non-Celtic alike spreading the joys of our food, culture and music. Terry is a true asset to our biggest little city of Reno and ambassador for our Irish culture.

GREG HARRINGTON (nominated by Hugh & Pat Lantz) Greg served as Sgt of Arms a few years ago and set up & took down all the stuff pertaining to the meeting, He would go to the storage unit & get the flags,etc., and bring everything to the meetings & put them in the proper places. He would see that the tables were set up & table cloths put on. He passed around 2 boxes with slits in the tops, one for the raffle which sometimes was an Irish type jewelry or gift & later became a 50/50 drawing. The other was for a $1 donation to the "Tree Fund" that we used to beautify St. Patrick's Grove in the Park. He is a member in good standing as he always pays his dues.

CHIP MACLEOD (nominated by BettyLou Reed) Chip is a member in good standing, has worked hard for some time and has Irish interests and relations. He serves as our Treasurer as well as President of the Reno Celtic Celebration and has held various roles in the Scottish Society. He attends meetings, functions and is always ready to help in any way he can.

PLEASE NOTE: Other nominees do not appear because they did not meet the criteria of "Member in good standing (Dues paid) or the nominee ask to have his/her name removed.

Election of Officers: The following offices would be up for election this year: (current members listed in parentheses)

-President (Archie Redmand)

-Treasurer (Chip MacLeod)

-Galway Director (BettyLou Reed)

-Belfast Director (Lydia MacLeod)

The Annual "Celtic Festival" Reno Beer Crawl (Celtic Pub Crawl) will be held from 1 to 6 p.m., Saturday Feb. 25 at various bars in Downtown Reno. As in previous years, SADOE will once again be the non-profit organization who is the beneficiary of the crawl. This is made possible by former Reno resident and Amendment 21 restaurant owner Mike Malody, who still runs the monthly beer crawl, held every fourth Saturday of the month. Since Feb. 25th falls before St. Patrick's Day, it is dubbed the "Celtic Pub Crawl"

For five dollars, you can purchase a wrist band, glass, raffle ticket and map and enjoy $1 - 6 ounce (that’s half a beer) refills of craft beer at 15 downtown Reno locations. Participants are encouraged to wear their kilts and other Celtic attire to fall within the theme of the pub crawl. Kilt rentals and Celtic attire are available through the Isles. Visit The Isles or call 775-384-1804 to order or make a reservation (a week out is recommended).

The crawl will start at The Waterfall (134 W 2nd Street in downtown Reno) at 2pm. If you would like to start the celebration an hour earlier, one hundred participants are welcome to start at 1pm at the Isles Celtic Tea Shoppe, 809 South Center St. Local Celtic band Ciana will be playing at the Isles and irish folk band 3-17 will play at 3 p.m. the Sierra Tap House (253 West 1st St.) For those who wish to celebrate into the evening, the Clarke Brothers will perform at 9p.m., at Ceol Irish Pub (538 S. Virginia St.)

For more information including featured beers and directions, please visit www.renobeercrawl.com or call Willie Puchert at 775-378-0931.

As mentioned before, Barbara Young, a docent from the Sparks Museum and Cultural Center, has created a Celtic exhibit in their 900 square foot changing gallery and they re displaying loaned items from February through April from the entire Northern Nevada Celtic Community.

Each Celtic organization has been invited to have a reception during that time and the SADOE Board agreed to have our reception, at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 4 at the Museum located at 814 Victorian Ave, on the corner of Pyramid and Victorian, Parking is around back on C Street. The event will include a performance from the Blanchette Irish Dancers, a lecturer on an Irish theme and hopefully some Celtic musicians. The Board decided to honor the Irish Person of the Year on this date with a cake and some minor refreshments and the newly elected officers will be introduced at this event as well.