This is just a little encouragement to those who are planning an Immersion weekend south of the Mason-Dixon line. If memory serves me, weren't locations being considered in North Carolina, or somewhere in the South Atlantic part of the USA. According to the US census of 1990, there should be a good market for such an event on that region. Here are where the people who said they had ancestry from Ireland are distributed:

1	East North Central.......	6,655,116
2	Middle Atlantic	6,471,484
3	South Atlantic	6,376,855
4	Pacific	4,800,064
5	West South Central	3,993,007
6	West North Central	2,988,145
7	New England	2,948,634
8	East South Central	2,580,937
9	Mountain	1,921,297
	Total	38,735,539

Note that almost 6.5 million of them (about 17% of the total) live in the area. This does not count those who said they were of Scots-Irish ancestry, of whom there are 1.4 million in the area. There seem to be anough Irish Americans to support a Dixie Immersion Weekend.

See www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cp-s/cp-s-1-2.pdf

Ádh mór oraibh,

Lúcas, A Chara:

Thanks for the statistical data. I knew there was a high percentage but this really puts in into perspective.

I'll be attending the February immersion in Esopus and hope to get some organizational insight from that experience.

Right now my challenges are finances and publicity. I have a few camps in the western part of the state that seem like adequate facilities. Once the weather clears up around here I'll go make some site visits and select one. From there, I'll have to sink some funds to reserve space, etc. Then, I'll have to publicize...another financial outlay.

Hopefully, the ancestral acknowledgement you mention will translate to a cultural interest!

Le meas,

James

James, a chara,
I have a suggestion for you: here's a link to US colleges and universities that have Irish studies courses/departments (including ones in GA, NC, SC, FL, KY, and WV): http://www.acisweb.com/guide/guide.html

Maybe you could contact them and let them know you'll be offering an immersion weekend.

Ádh mór,
Paul

Thanks, Paul!!

This is excellent! I'll try to make contact with as many as possible. Who knows, they may be able to help with instructors!

go raib mile maith agat!

Le meas,

James

Oops. left of the "h" on "raib (h)"..fingers couldn't keep up with my brain!

The venue is the hardest bit -- what did they say in the 'Field of Dreams' film? "Build it and people will come?" Ádh mór ort, James.

: )

http://uniquevenues.com/search.cfm/state_search/nc

A Chailindoll,

I've looked at a couple of the venues on that link. Thanks for forwarding it to me. Some of these sites are church based which, in some cases, would rule out any alcohol. Now, you tell me...I'm going to gather a bunch of Irishmen and Irishwomen together for a weekend and then tell them they can't drink!?!?!?

There are a few, though that offer private and semi-private rooms...now, that might be a bit of a plus, but then again, the dorm (or barracks) style sort of forces the cameraderie...AHHHH..decisions, decisions!!

Thanks for all the input. Keep it coming!!!

Le meas,
James

One of the most boring immersion weekends I went to was one where everyone had a private room and bath. It cut down on a lot of the craic since two or three would gather in one room instead of joining in the the gathering in the big hall.

Aontaim libhse. The church venues can sometimes be difficult. I remember one once where the nuns allowed us to drink, but insisted that everyone sleep alphabetically! But Esopus and Jamison are both retreat centers and they're wonderful. Lots of people like the fancier digs, but that also drives the price higher. When the price is higher there's somehow less of a 'let's all chip in and lend a hand' feeling in addition to less cameraderie. It's the everyone lending a hand that builds the community as well as the vocabulary. Task-based learning - learning by doing. When people are all personally invested and volunteering their time great things happen. Like look at this site, for example. You'll learn more buy putting a weekend together than any class or textbook could teach you. You're right about the no booze venues. They don't work. It shouldn't be such a big deal, because what happens at these weekends is not about drinking, but without alcohol available or permitted, people pick up and go to the nearest local joint and the conversation and craic goes with them. : )
C

Those are my concerns, precisely. I've found that if we are forced to work together, eat together, play together...basically, spend every waking moment together with no sanctuary of a private room...if we do that we tend to get closer as a group. It forces the use of whatever language and gives us an opportunity to see and hear different approaches to questions, queries, etc.

Please don't misinterpret my concern over the alcohol issue. I don't want this thing to be one big "drunk-fest in the woods". But, responsible adult consumption tends to loosen some inhibition (verbal inhibitions are what I'm talking about here...let's not go down that road!!) and tends to get people more willing to engage in conversation, music, story telling...a prohibition against it is the quickest way I know to keep people away!!

With any luck, we'll pull this off around Sept or Oct. Keep the ideas flowing!!

Le meas,

James

James, a chara,

My work has taken me away from this site for several weeks, so I'm not completely up-to-date with your efforts. And, as an Englishman resident in this country, I'm unable to attend but please allow me this opportunity to wish you the very best of luck with your endeavours. Go gcuire Dia an t-ádh ort, a chara.

Le meas,

Larry.

Larry, A Chara:

What I'm trying to do is to get an immersion weekend somewhere south of the Mason--Dixon line.

Things are still in the investigatory stages, but there may be some "meat" on this over the course of the next several months. I'll be attending in Esopus this next go-round and hope to get some pointers.

If you can make your way south, we'd love to have you!

Le meas,
James

James, a chara,

Tá brón orm... I should have made it clear.

When I stated above "... an Englishman resident in this country..." I meant resident in England - not the US. I'm afraid that it would currently be beyond my resources to join you. But best of luck anyway...

Le meas,

Oh, c'mon....a quick 10 hours directly into Charlotte, NC...hire a car (that's "rent a car to us), zip up to the Blue Ridge (just another 3 hours)....two days of immersion and another 10 hours back to England....Jet Lag??? What Jet Lag??...what's the worry!??!!

Seriously, though...maybe on the second annual event??

Le meas,

James

B'fhéidir, a chara, b'fhéidir...

Le meas,

There are definitely some Virginia folks who would be interested in such an event! Where in the South are you from and what locations (regions) are you looking at ("zip up into the Blue Ridge")?

Slán y'all!
Laura

Laura, A Chara:

Right now I'm looking at the area around Asheville...more or less. If you have access or contacts at any retreat facilities up your way, I would be more than willing to entertain that as a venue. Especially if we can get a break on pricing!! :)

If you know of anyone who would be interested in attending, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...give them this website and refer them to this thread.

If we could get 20 to 30 people to come, I think it would be a success. I'm going to Esopus next weekend (finally!!!) and intend to take copious notes on what they're doing "up North."

As it stands, I'm looking at a September/October 2005 time frame. The summer will just be too darned hot and most of the camps I'm looking at have different fees for the summer than they do for the fall. And, we've got a baby due in June so in the interest of not incurring the wrath of "She Who Must Be Obeyed", I need to put it off until the fall. Plus, the Blue Ridge area is just soooo much prettier during that time of year.

If you have ANY ideas or suggestions, I am completely open...

Le meas,

James

Anois, a James.

Na leanaí ar dtús i gconaí! Níl baint ag fearg do bhean leis, ná bí a lochtú siúd!

James, a chara,
In addition to taking "copious notes," I'd suggest that you let other people attending the weekend know that you're planning a Dixie immersion program. There are people who come to this weekend who organize their own weekend/day programs in other US/Canada locales.
Also, at the last meeting before the weekend concludes, they usually ask if there are any announcements: this would be an opportunity to mention your plans, and maybe invite people to
put their names/emails on a list or something.

Cupla smaointe duit...

Tabhair aire, Paul

Go raibh maith agat, A Phól. I'll be interested to see how far people are travelling to attend Esopus. That will give me another gauge of how broadly I need to extend the awareness effort. I'm thinking of hitting the National Public Radio stations on their community calendar spots.

Hi James,
I see you are looking into Ashville NC. I found a site which may be of interest to you.

SWANNANOA GATHERING CELTIC WEEK

Warren-Wilson College
PO BOX 9000
Ashville NC. 28815-9000
e-mail

HTTP://www.swangathering.org/catalog/cl/sgelshed.html

It is mostly a musical gathering but I don't see why Irish Language would not be welcome there. Some of the singing is as Gaeilge.
Ard Mór
Máirín

http://www.swangathering.org/Catalog/CL/sgclsched.html for case sensitive browsers!

Just heard about the Asheville idea from Lynn from this past weekend in Esopus. When I found out, I knocked a couple of ceiling tiles out of the drop-in ceiling from my jumping. I LOVE the idea of an Asheville event. Being that I live just 30 minutes outside of Asheville, my parents would actually let me come!

I really want to go to the Celtic Week at Warren Wilson, but I don't know about my summer's schedule this year. If I can make it, expect to see me there.

That Swannanoa event is perfect for getting the word out! If I could get posters or a booth set up there, I'm sure we could get a good number of interested people! That is perfect! Thanks so much for forwarding it. And thanks a Aonghuis for the second link...my machine wouldn't open the original!!

A Pháidín,

Lynn was in my class at Esopus and gave me your e-mail. If we have to go pick you up, we'll get you at this immersion weekend! The people at Esopus were absolutely wonderful and it was an amazing environment in which to learn. We'll do what we can to duplicate it down here and we'll be sure that you are a part of it!

Thanks again to everyone for the support and "independent" research on this project. After attending Esopus, I'm even more engergized and committed to making this one work!

Go raibh mile maith agaibh, mo chairde!

Le meas,

James

James a chara,

I meant to introduce myself to you in Esopus, but by Sunday morning when I wasn't so busy (I taught the teenagers' class) you'd left.

I live in western Va. and would be glad to participate in an event so much closer to me. I can 1) teach and 2) lead singing workshops.

go n-éirí leat

Beth

Ah...Beth, I wish I had met you! I was going to stick around until noon but the weather report was calling for snow and I didn't want to get caught with a 12 hour drive in bad weather. As it was, I hit a few flurries in PA and VA and then rain from southern VA all the way home.

I think I'll put up a web-site where people can leave me addresses and such. This will help me build a data base of potential students and teachers.

Thanks for getting in touch! I'll build a pretty simple site in the next week or so and post the link on this thread.

James