THANK YOU!

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the participants, families, friends, adjudicators, musicians and vendors that came together yesterday to celebrate Irish dance at Feile Rince Charlotte 2011! Your patience with our attempt to accommodate the SAT testing yesterday was greatly appreciated. We know it was an unexpectedly long day but we hope it was worth it and we thank you for your support!

We are looking forward to seeing you again next year for FRC 2012! Only 364 days away!

FRC 2011 Music Competition

Welcome to all our Music Competition participants! We will commence the Music Competition Friday, June 3, 2011 at 7:30 PM on Stage 1. We look forward to seeing you!

FRC 2011 Stage Schedule

You may now download our stage schedule here: FRC 2011 Stage Schedule or go to our website at WalshKelleySchool.com to obtain it.

Please remember, competitors make changes to their entries even when they arrive at check in. Sometimes, it is unavoidable that these late changes affect the stage schedule in minor ways. We will keep you apprised of any changes that occur and please don't hesitate to ask any of our friendly FRC 2011 volunteers if you have any questions.

In the meantime, get rest, travel safely and prepare for a wonderful day!

Failte! (Welcome!) Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat! (Good luck!)

FRC 2011 Vendors

We have a great selection of vendors this year, selling everything you could need. The following vendors have been confirmed:

Fab Rince www.fabrince.com

Celtic Curls www.celticcurls.com

Celtic Shoes www.celticshoes.com

The Ulster Kitchen www.theulsterkitchen.com

Earth Traditions www.earthtraditions.com

Emerald Key www.emeraldkeyonline.com

Sk8 Monkey www.sk8monkey.com

Feel free to visit their websites or contact them for any information you need, or items you would like them to bring to the feis!

Champion Charity Special!

VOTE WITH YOUR FEET!

Feile Rince Charlotte presents its First Annual Charity Competition "VOTE WITH YOUR FEET!" open to Preliminary & Open Champions! All competing dancers get a vote to decide which charity (Levine Children's Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, or Girls on the Run) receives the proceeds from this competition.

But wait...

Make your vote count even more!!! 1st Place Winner vote counts as 20 votes, 2nd Place 15 votes, and 3rd Place 10 votes! Dance your best for a good cause and help support one of these worthy charities!!!

You don't have to dance to donate! Donations are welcome from all!! Let's show Charlotte how we support our charities. Donations may be sent to Caroline Waterman 14838 Resolves Lane, Charlotte, NC 28272 or you may bring your donation to the registration table at the feis.

Come dance! Come VOTE WITH YOUR FEET! And let's all give back!

Check Out The New T Shirt for FRC 2011!

Check out our new t-shirt for FRC 2011! Remember, t-shirts are only available by pre-order so be sure to add one to your feis registration!

Registration Available on eFeis!

We're pleased to announce registration is now available on eFeis!

Also, we have a new competition for our Champion dancers - The First Annual Feile Rince Charlotte VOTE WITH YOUR FEET Competition - Soft Shoe and Hard Shoe Specials! 100% of the proceeds from these competitions will be donated to a single charity -- and the dancers get to choose from the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte, The Levine Children's Hospital of Charlotte or the Girls on the Run! Every dancer gets to vote and podium finishers get even more votes to cast!

Save the Date! Registration Coming Soon!

Save the Date - June 3-4, 2011 is our Annual Feile Rince Charlotte! Watch this space for updates on Registration (eFeis) and our Annual feis T shirt!

Musicians

We are very fortunate to have the following musicians joining us this year:

Mark Arrington

Tessa Thistlethwaite

Kelly Winter

Patrick Bush

Mark has been with us for years, Tessa and Kelly are returning for their second year and we welcome Patrick Bush who comes to us from Ohio with 10 years of experience. We are thrilled they have joined our crew!

Venue

The venue will be the Blake Hotel once again, with one of the largest meeting spaces in the city.

Rooms will be available at a rate of $91 (only $2 more than last year and still less than 2009 rates, and significantly cheaper than other uptown hotels) Reservations must be made by calling (704) 372-4100 between 10am and 7pm, Monday through Friday, and referencing Feile Rince Charlotte. The rate is available until 5/15/10. If you have any problems making your reservation, please let me know so that I can make sure the process runs smoothly.

I am hoping to have the same caterer return to offer breakfast, lunch and snacks on Saturday since the hotel restaurant seems to be gone for good. Will keep you posted.

Feile Rince Charlotte 2011

The new chair for the 2011 FRC will be Victoria Liccione.

Questions and emails can still go to feilerincecharlotte@gmail.com and updates will still be posted here.

Volunteers

A huge and sincere thank you to all of the WKS families that volunteered their time and energy this weekend and well before. The feis runs solely on volunteer power, and I know it is hard to sometimes give up a Saturday or give up the chance to see your own child dance in order to post awards, or run a stage, or help out in tabulation. Your feis-chairs truly appreciate the hard work everyone put in, and the great attitude that everyone took whenever we loaded on more work ;-)

I especially appreciate those people who really stepped up to help me out in particular, so a special thanks to Aine, Cathy, Jeanne, Lisa, and Michelle. And well, I can never thank Julie enough for being the best co-chair one could ever ask for, so in gratitude, I will just help her to come up with an excuse to get out of doing this again next year!

Results

Results have been posted on efeis, and individual results will be emailed to all dancers in the next couple of days.

Thanks for joining us!

Food

Please note that although there will be food concessions for breakfast and lunch on Saturday, the hotel restaurant is closed for remodeling so there will be no food available at the Blake Friday or Saturday evening except what is offered in the lobby snackbar. The hotel can provide information for guests on local delivery options.

Because of the concessions available on Saturday, no large coolers will be allowed in the public meeting/ballroom spaces of the hotel.

Schedule

The stage schedule is now available by clicking HERE

Many thanks to everyone at WKS for taking over for me in the midst of my "crises." You've all done a great job with little time or warning! --Kim

Schedule

The schedule is not quite ready yet (still dealing with splits), but should be online tomorrow (Wednesday) at some point. I am away for a funeral so I may not be able to get it posted until Thursday, so my apologies if that happens.

Like most years, we are running figures first, then will start beginner and advanced beginner on 4 stages, specials on one stage, and championship on the last. We will run Prelims first, starting with the youngest age groups.

Hope that helps at least a little with everyone's planning. Please remember that no statements about the schedule are final or unchangeable until I actually post the schedule, and even then, there may be small changes for feis day.

Thanks and looking forward to seeing everyone in Charlotte!

Volunteers! Work Night!

Many thanks to all of the Walsh-Kelly parents who have already signed up to volunteer at this year's feis. For those who haven't yet, please contact Julie to figure out where she still needs help. All feiseanna that your children attend are run by volunteers, so this is your chance to give something back by helping to make our feis a success. We need EVERYONE!

Also, remember WORK NIGHT is Wednesday June 2. We need lots of help just getting all the registration materials, t-shirts, programs, and stage books put together. It is at the studio, and all parents are welcome. It tends to be a fun few hours meeting and hanging out with other dance parents. Also a great chance for "newer" parents to gab with more experienced feis parents!

See you there!

Hotel feis rate

The deadline for the feis rate has now passed. The hotel may still be offering deals on a limited basis online (one day it's $129, the next $80...you just have to get lucky). If you do book online, could you please let me know so that they feis can get "credit" for your room to apply to our required commitment of rooms booked. We don't get any kickback or anything like that, but if we don't meet our required commitment, we have to pay out the nose.

Thanks!

Judges and Musicians

Adjudicators:

Brenda Crossen Finn – Wilmington, MA
John Jennings – River Edge, NJ
Colleen Coyle Kelly – New Oxford, PA
Kerry Kelly Oster – Brewster, NY
Eileen Coyle-Henry – Flourtown, PA
Sean Reagan – Shoreham, NY
Kathleen Rondeau – Fort Pierce, FL
John Heinzman -- MI

Musicians:

Billy Furlong, NY

Mark Arrington, PA

Kelly Winter, MO

Tessa Thistlewaite, OH

Vendors

We have a great selection of vendors this year, selling everything you could need. The following are confirmed:
Fab Rince
Celtic Curls
Youngblood Haircutters
DeDanaan Gifts
Polish Highlander
East Coast Graphics (they will NOT be selling FRC t-shirts, see below)

sk8 Monkey