Posted by James on Sunday, November 14, 2004 - 06:47 pm:

It seems that there are a number of participants residing south of the Mason-Dixon line. The predominately New England/Northern locale of most of the immersion weekends may be a bit difficult for us to attend. So, as a matter of inquiry:

Who would be interested in attending an Irish immersion event somewhere between Richmond and Atlanta sometime between January and October of 2005?

I will start by raising my hand...OK...that's one.

Anyone else? Anyone? Anyone?

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Posted by Seosamh Mac Muirí (Unregistered Guest) on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 02:46 pm:

Cuirfidh sé seo an cheist suas ar barr uisce arís a Shéamais. Ní miste an cheist a bheith rompu go léir arís.

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Posted by Julia Mann (Unregistered Guest) on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 03:25 pm:

James...I live in Northern Virginia so something close to the Va... NC border would be okay for me but preferably after the snow and ice season, even though I have a 1990 Volvo which my husband lovingly refers to as the "lead sled".

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Posted by James on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 06:59 pm:

Understand that this is merely an inquiry...I'm just curious as to how many people would be interested in attending. My immediate thoughts are that we would have to focus on the late summer/early fall if for no other reason than the time intensive coordination that would need to be done.

There is another young lady from SC who would probably be interested in driving up. There is also an Irish teacher at a small college just across the SC/NC line (below Asheville) who we could probably recruit. Lucas had mentioned combining things with a golf outing which fits with my immediate locale (Pinehurst, NC...home of the 2005 US Open) quite easily but could also be just about anywhere in North Carolina.

If we could get some brainstorming working here, we just might be able to pull this off.

A Sheosamh,

Tuigim na focla ach ní dtuigim "ar barr uisce" (tip of the water? Water's edge?). Tá imní agam go cur ní dtuigim an abairt ar chor ar bith.

Le meas,

James

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Posted by Beth (Unregistered Guest) on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 09:45 pm:

I live in western Va. and would be interested in helping put together an immersion event in your area, or anywhere in Va./NC.

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Posted by James on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 10:26 pm:

OK, So far it sounds like North Carolina is going to work. And, we've got three interested participants. That's a start! Now it's time for the 5 "W's".

Who--this is partly done. Me, Beth and Julia. Perhaps a few teachers from the New England stronghold could be enticed to come down? Of course, we need many more students/learners but at least we've got a start!

What--again, this is done. Irish Language Immersion. I'm going to go to Esopus in February so maybe the format could be "roughed out" while I'm up there.

When-- Definitely in 2005. Late summer? Early fall?

Where--Somewhere central between SC and VA looks to be most promising. But, bear in mind that late summer is a scorcher down here! Maybe the western part of the state (higher elevation and prettier, too!) would be better. Galax, Va? Boone, NC? Just some thoughts.

Why-- To provide a more accessable (sp?) venue to those who live in the Southern U.S. for Irish Language Immersion studies.

Where do we go from here? Liam? Lucas? Seosamh? Caoimhín? The Northern contingent has MUCH more experience. Any ideas? Do you think your instructors would be up for adding another event to their calendar?

Le meas,

James

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Posted by Pádraig on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 02:57 am:

James,

I am told that the Irish Studies Abroad program at Young Harris College in northern Georgia is no more. Apparently, it perished due to lack of support. However, the prof who headed up the program and who has moved on (I don't know where) is a very enthusiastic devotee of Irish studies and has many contacts both here and in Ireland. Perhaps this thread will flush him out. Or, you might contact the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Young Harris in the hope of locating him.

Also, over in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University Press specializes in the publication of Irish writers, and there may be interested persons on campus.

Just a couple of ideas.

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Posted by Fear_na_mbróg on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 04:22 am:

quote:A Sheosamh,

Tuigim na focla ach ní dtuigim "ar barr uisce" (tip of the water? Water's edge?). Tá imní agam go cur ní dtuigim an abairt ar chor ar bith.

Gramadach:

Tuigim na focail ach ní thuigim "ar barr uisce". Tá imní orm nach dtuigim an abairt ar chor ar bith.

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Posted by Aonghus on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 04:25 am:

Ar barr uisce: a figurative way of saying "I'll nudge this post to the recently changed ones, where it will be noticed"

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Posted by James on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 02:29 pm:

A Fhear,

Go raibh míle maith agat. Taím ag foghlaim fós!

A Aonghuis,

I thought it was an idiomatic expression. Just couldn't seem to get the meaning of it, though.

A Phádraig;

I hadn't thought about Wake Forest! That's just an hour or two down the road from where I live. Just outside of WF is an area called Pilot Mountain (yes, it's the real "Mount Pilot" from the Andy Griffith Show) that is quite rural and scenic. It's convenient to major highways (77 and 40) and fairly central in the state. This might be the "ticket" so to speak.

Now, for all interested parties.

How do we get this thing circulated? Do we schedule the thing, "damn the torpedos" style and just go with it? Or, do we drum up the interest, expect 50% to be no-shows and schedule from there?

I could post/advertise in the college papers for little to no investment. But, that's a limited audience. The larger papers will be a bit more of an investment. Then, there's the local NPR stations. That might be effective and reach a broader audience...any thoughts?

I need ideas, Mo Chairde!!!

Le meas,

James

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Posted by DearBlabby (Unregistered Guest) on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 05:42 pm:

Scout out the ares you have in mind to check out the availability and type of accomodations. Small separate spaces are the best for classes since you'll probably have small classes at different levels. Find out what teachers are able to do this weekend. Dorms are fine to stay in. Figure out how much it will take to cover the weekend without going broke.Will you need insurance? This is a good site to attract attention and also flyers at Irish festivals, etc.Go n-eiri in t-adh libh!

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Posted by James on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 05:54 pm:

I'm thinking about a Church or Scout retreat. The accomodations are usually dorm style which is no great departure from what has been done at Esopus and Jamieson.

Insurance....hadn't even thought about that!

As far as Irish festivals go; there aren't that many in my area. There is an ongoing Celtic music festival about 45 minutes away though. It's held every 1st Saturday of the month. That might be a good place to start!

Until we can solidify a weekend I won't be able to firm things up with teachers.

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming!!

Le meas,

James


(Message edited by admin on November 17, 2004)

I think the cost of shipping white boards, etc. would be too high. They're not that expensive. The other alternative is having someone from Nj bring them but there's no guarantee that anyone would be coming from there. To save a little money would involve a great deal of work.

James,

Now that you have a few volunteers, you might consider dividing up the rolls. Here are some possibilities

• Headmaster/Headmistress -- this is the person who recruits the teachers, coordinates the classes they will teach, i.e, assinging them levels, placing students in the class according to their stated ability, and manages the teacher aids. I think you could borrow the white boards, markers, and erasers that Daltaí uses.
  
• Facility liason -- this is the person who has to find a place for the weekend, negotiate terms and conditions, assign students to dorms, rooms, cabins, caves, ... , whatever. Again, I think you could borrow the Irish signs that Daltaí plasters all over the place at Eospus.
  
• Marketing guru and gopher -- someone repsonsible for getting the word out about the weekend. I think Liam could be persuaded to give up the Daltaí mailing list, and to list your weekend on the Daltaí web site. I think The Irish Echo would post an ad for free in its happenings sections. Maybe there are other social calendars you could get in for free in local newspapers, magazines, web pages, ...
  

Send me your email address to me at
and I can give you the email addresses of the folks who do this now for Daltaí. They can give you some valuable advice. The February weekend would also be ideal for getting advice because they also have a teachers' workshop after the regular weekend.

When I try to pull this thread up on my computer, I'm only getting the last two posts. Was there some "tweaking" done by the admin types?

This thing is looking like it's going to take shape and I'd hate to lose the contacts that have been made here.

Le meas,

James

Me too, a chairde. I was really getting fired up about this project. I hope we haven't lost all the data.

Ditto. Although the history shows them. I wonder did somebody use some dodgy html?

From an on-line search I am finding that most of the camps/retreats are definitely in the western part of North Carolina. Most seem to be centered around Asheville which is just off of HWY 40 from an East/West approach and HWY 26 from a North/South approach.

Regarding the white boards...not a big issue. I've got one of my own that I use from time to time. I'd also be willing to bet that one of these camps/confernce centers would have some we could use.

I'll send out some "feelers" and get an idea of what it's going to cost to use one of these facilities.

I'm still going to focus on late summer/early fall. That will be the off-season for the camps and the weather in the mountains will be much more tolerable. It will have to be after June, though. There's a small matter of a pending birth at my house that's scheduled for June. So, August or September is about as soon as I can manage.

Then again, we could shoot for Spring...say April? Or, is that too soon on the heels of Jamison? Plus, it cuts our planning and coordination time by 1/2.

No tweaking here. The board appears to have eaten the other posts.

I have all the originals. If I can't restore the page, I'll post them later tonight.

Caoimhín

A Chaoimhin, a chara,

Go raibh maith agat.

A Chaoimhín,

Is AN FEAR, Thú!

My poor attempt at "You are THE MAN!!"

Go raibh míle maith agat, mo chara!

Le meas,

James

You are THE MAN

Is tusa AN FEAR

I ahve received feeback from one camp in King, NC. They have the last week in August available. Cabins will sleep between 14 and 18 people and they have a dining hall that is staffed by their people.

I wouldn't expect more than 30 or so people to attend, but of course, I would welcome many more!!

As I get more feedback from other camps, I'll post them here.

Still need to get more people involved, though! This is a come one, come all invitation!!

The last week in August is the immersion week of the Daltai in Esopus, New York which most of its gang wouldn't want to miss. We're really not so close as to be in conflict but it might cut into some attendees and possible teachers.

This is exactly the kind of electronic interaction we need!! I didn't even begin to think Daltai was doing anything in August. Simple oversight and easily corrected.

Let's define a more "do-able" window of opportunity. Perhaps mid-September into early October?

Weekend versus Week?

You might want to start with just a weekend to get your feet wet. A week can seem awfully long if things go awry. Somewhere on this site Daltai has a calendar of scheduled events. Check it out to see what's going on in areas close to you. Also, some groups have run one day programs very successfully which could be a good start.

James, a chara,

http://www.ceantar.org/ATM

I don't know how up to date the information at this link is. By the way, it's remarkable how little activity there is south of the Mason-Dixon, given the history of the Irish in the area. Someone else alluded to the Scots-Irish whose arrival in the Carolinas predates the potato famine influx by a couple hundred years. I have a feeling there's a remnant of those early arrivals hidden away in the Appalachians. I've run across some quirky dialects up "ar" which I suspect have their roots in 17th century gaeilge. I'll bet there's more than one doctoral dissertation waiting for the right grad students willing to investigate.

The ATM site of immersion weekends was last updated June 24, 1997 as stated therein so I wouldn't think you'd have much luck with finding current events. Check the EVENTS listing on the Daltai homepage. It gives the scheduled events for the year and is updated often.

Beidh mise mé féin ag freastail an deireadh seachtaine Dhaltaí an Fheabhra seo, a James (le cúnamh Dé), agus bheadh athas orm an t-ábhar seo a phléigh. Táim faoi cheithre uaire (tiomáint) ó iarthar N. Carolina, ach tá sé níos giorra dom ná Esopus. . .

Tá cuma mhaith ag teacht ar an scéal laisteas den Mason-Dixon a James. Tarlóidh sé am éigin, le cúnamh Dé agus bainfidh sibh sult as.

Weekend versus Week? Longweekend or day.
Bheadh seachtain rófhada ar na daoine a bheadh freagrach as an obair eagraithe go léir. Is brú mór é ar na daoine sin. Tá ciall sa méid a deir DearBlabby taobh thuas ansin. Is maith an múinteoir an taithí.

This looks to be one of the more economically viable options. It's just south of Asheville, NC and they'll house and feed us for 35 dollars a day. Mid September into October is beautiful in this area of NC and would be an "off season" option.

www.allstarretreats.com

Thoughts?

How are the classroom facilities? You need space for small groups as opposed to big assembly halls or conference rooms. The place looks great and the rate reasonable. Why not get in touch with the directors of some of the other immersion events and see how this stacks up with what they have?

There are a number of these sites in greater Asheville area. All look good on the web but, as we all know, ground truth and web truth are seldom the same.

My intent is to narrow the selection down to three or four sites that seem like viable locations. Once that is done, I'll conduct an area recon of the general locale and then do an individual site survey on each facility. Areas of special consideration will be routes to and from each site with regard to simplicity and proximity to main routes of travel. Ideally, these routes will be easily identifiable and easily negotiated from major highways approaching from points North, South, East and West. I'll further assess the availability and suitability of lodging, classroom facilities, dining facilities and recreational activities/options with special attention to the facilitation of small group activities during the day and larger group events in the evenings. My intent is to mirror the Esopus/Jamison model that seems to be working well.

I'll be attending the February event, having procured permission from my immediate chain of command (that'd be the wife) and utilize that experience to further modify and shape my efforts as outlined above.

Once this list has been further narrowed and the date more clearly defined, I'll list each location with pros and cons and from that list we can make our final selection.

In the very near future I hope to make direct contact with more seasoned and experienced organizers to gain insight from their "lessons learned." I will also begin the recruitment process of instructors and fellow coordinators as we develop a more firm date of execution.


(Boy, that felt good!!! Can we get uniforms?? Can we have morning formations and give commands as gaeilge??? Anybody for morning runs and pushups???)

Seriously, I'm gonna narrow things down over the next few months. I hope to take advantage of the off season over the winter and actually visit some of these sites. Once I've been a student at one of these, I'll be able to do a better assessment.

I hope to start solidifying things by late winter/early spring. What I really need is people, people, people...students, volunteers, teachers...you know, all the people that make these things fun! It'll be boring as hell if I'm the only one that shows up!!!

Please keep the suggestions and experiences flowing. This is good mental exercise and no idea or thought goes un noticed.

Le meas,

James

James,

I seem to remember that some people held a Scots Gaelic seminar lasting several days last summer in conjunction with the Grandfather Mountain Scottish festival (or whatever it's called) in North Caolina. Perhaps they could help you with advice about a suitable location. Dr. Jamie MacDonald and Jana Blue were involved in it. Their email addresses should be obtainable from the An Comunn Gaidhealach America website at www.acagmerica.org

MacDonald is a professor at the Gaelic college in Nova Scotia and Jana Blue lives, I think, in Richmond, VA.

Matthew Webb
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
USA

James,

Forgot to say that I like the idea of drilling in Irish Gaelic!

Matthew Webb
Oklahomal City, Olkahoma
USA

Tá an-chuma ar an áit sin a Shéamais. Ba mhór an mhaith áit mar í le teagasc tríd an ngníomhaíocht. Tons of verbs happen when one teaches through activity. Some might find the sun and heat a bit much, ach dhéanfaidís leath an lae amuigh faoin ngréin 'ar son na cúise'! A mixture of activity in class and in the shade would promise to be thar cinn. 'Local' mention in newspapers and other media beforehand ought to drum up the more reclusive canidates.

Is cinnte go mbeidh rath ar chúrsaí Gaeilge laisteas don Mason-Dixon am éigin amach anseo.