Irish Band 'The Waxies' Rocked the Masonic
St. Pattie's Palooza 2012 Hits Masonic Ballroom
Great Lakes Bay Regional Wellness Alliance Fundraiser
March 18, 2012
By: Diane Szczepanski
The '
Great Lakes Bay Regional Wellness Alliance' offered a night of celebrating St. Patrick's Day on Friday, March 16, 2012 when they hosted 'St. Pattie's Palooza'.
The 'Palooza', held in the Masonic Ballroom, served as a fundraiser for the 'St. Patrick's Day Parade Association', the 'Friends of Celtic Culture' and other non-profit organizations connected to the Wellness Alliance.
2012 Bay City Parade Marshall, Denny Hayes, was in attendance and formally received his walking stick, to the applause of the crowd at Masonic Ballrom.
Denny will lead the parade down Center Ave., in Bay City, MI, scheduled for Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 2:00 p.m.
The $20 ticket price also included the Irish Rock music of the band,
The Waxies. The seven member ensemble have been together for about 4 years and are based out of Grand Rapids, MI.
Band member, Conor Bardallis remarked, "We're looking forward to a gig in Kansas City, MO [in June]. It will be the farthest we've ever been out of state to play".
He went on to say, "We are so excited for new people to hear our music."
'The Waxies' have won some prestigious awards since their start and were named 'Best Celtic Rock Band' in Michigan in a 2009 Battle of the Bands contest in Ionia.
The band, suggested by Denny Hayes, closed the night of dancing and toe-tapping Friday and were packing up to head back home to the other side of the state.
The St. Patrick's holiday is obviously a big day for Irish bands and The Waxies will spend 8-9 hours of their day Saturday, playing music. They were scheduled to perform in Muskegon in the morning, then off to Grand Rapids that night.
Check out their website at:
www.thewaxies.com
Old City Hall Restaurant provided delicious, traditional Irish fare and beer tastings were offered by
Ideal Party Store.
Beverages were also available for purchase and were staffed by friendly OCH bartenders.
Denny Hayes, accepts the walking stick from Gary Colopy of Friends of Celtic Culture
2012 Parade Marshall, Denny Hayes
Jerry Crete, of Ideal Party Store and his wife, Annette Crete, served
samples of Founders and Tri-City Brewery beers.
Guests lined up for samples of a variety of beer.
Karen Parker, pretty in green and David Engelhardt
From left, Denise Peil, Cindy LeMay, Toni Stagray, Lynn Heckerthorn and Fred Heckerthorn
2012 Parade Marshall, Denny Hayes and his wife, Marie.
Jeff Greene and Heather Sohacki
Kellie Rapp and Cort Schepeler, enjoyed the night of festivities.
Jerry Blondin wears his Irish kilt
As always, superb bartending from Old City Hall staff, Tyler (left) and Aaron.