Dunedin Residents Join Early St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

Dunedin shared it's Celtic pride at the Sons and Daughters of Erin's annual St. Patrick's Day event at the Jasmine Lakes Civic Center on Sunday.

Both the Scottish American Society of Dunedin, dancers from the Stephen Scariff School of Irish Dance and bagpiper Ed Bicknell made a special appearances.

The annual event was sold out this year with members coming from near and far to celebrate Celtic heritage. A total of 197 people were in attendance.

The Scottish American Society recently celebrated its 30^th anniversary and the evening’s witty and entertaining emcee, Danny Phee, is as enthusiastic as ever about the club.

“The idea is to bring people together,” he said “You don’t have to be Scottish, everyone is welcome.”

Phee has attended the Sons and Daughters of Erin St. Patrick’s Day celebration for the past five years now and intends to continue.

“Good people, good food and good fun,” he said.

Musician Duncan McKenzie performed a variety of Irish favorites, such as “The Irish Rover” and “The Wild Rover,” to which much of the audience was singing along. McKenzie also played tunes such as  “St. Bernard’s Waltz,” which caused dancers to fill the dance floor. 

Dancers from the Stephen Scariff School of Irish Dance, who ranged from 11 to 17 years old, performed a variety of routines that involved intricate and mesmerizing footwork.

The dancers’ high energy performance completely won over the audience and the girls received a standing ovation. Dancers from the Stephen Scariff school will perform at in Dunedin on St. Patrick’s Day.       

Also, bagpiper Ed Bicknell performed a medley of tunes. Bicknell, has played for 40 years and performs regularly at the Scottish American Society in Dunedin on Friday evenings.

Allen and Anne Isenberg of Dunedin attended the event first time. Anne Isenburg, originally from Glasgow, is the Scottish American Society secretary.

“It's good exercise and it's like a little bit of home for the Scottish members,” explained Anne.