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Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration Returns to Fayetteville Saint Patrick's Day Celebration Returns to Fayetteville

By Adam Campos

The Johnson School of Irish Dance performs at the Fayetteville Free Library
© 2023 Adam Campos

REPORTER:
AS PART OF AN EARLY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION…THE TALENTS OF THE JOHNSON SCHOOL OF IRISH DANCE WERE ON FULL DISPLAY AT THE FAYETTEVILLE FREE LIBRARY… FOR SOME FAMILIES IN CENTRAL NEW YORK – IRISH DANCING RUNS THROUGH GENERATIONS OF THEIR FAMILY TREE…

Shannon Murphy Van Slyke:
It’s just really great to keep all those traditions alive. We have the upside our lights and to keep all the dancers. You know, when when my parents put me in it, they just wanted me to learn the jig so that we could carry on the tradition for the next generation. And it was the same for my daughter.

REPORTER:
ATTENDEES ALSO GOT THE CHANCE TO HEAR THE SOUNDS OF TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC BY THE SYRACUSE IRISH SESSIONS… THEY’VE BEEN PERFORMING IN CENTRAL NEW YORK SINCE 1995… GUITARIST HARVEY NUSBAUM SAYS TO THE LOVE OF PLAYING THE MUSIC AND BRINGING IRISH CULTURE TO SYRACUSE IS WHAT KEEPS THE GROUP GOING…

Harvey Nusbaum:
We’ve kept it going ever since because we like to play the music and then we get here and there. There are like a hundred people watching you and you. It is a little bit nerve wracking, but you know it’s for the good

REPORTER:
BEFORE IT’S LAST SHOWING IN 2019, THE EVENT WAS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING CELEBRATIONS FOR SAINT PATRICK’S DAY IN CENTRAL NEW YORK… ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF FAYETTEVILLE FREE LIBRARY LEAH KROUSE SAYS THE EVENT’S FOCUS HELPS DRIVE THE TURNOUT…

Leah Kraus:
But they’re so happy that we put it on. I think sometimes other St Patrick’s Day things may not have as much of a family focus.

REPORTER:
AS NEXT WEEK MARKS THREE YEARS SINCE THE START OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THE EVENT’S RETURN BRINGS EVERYONE INVOLVED A SENSE OF RELIEF…

LEAH KRAUS:
“To finally be back to a place where we’re back to these big scale community events. It just it just feels like finally, finally.”

REPORTER:
AND A SENSE OF GRATEFULNESS TO BE BACK IN ACTION…

Kayley Brim:
“And they are so excited to be able to. I think it’s more exciting now because we haven’t done it.”

REPORTER:
FOR NCC NEWS, I’M ADAM CAMPOS

FAYETTEVILLE, N.Y. – The Fayetteville Free Library hosted its annual Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration for the first time since 2019. At the event, families got the opportunity to see traditional Irish performances including song and dance. As one of the fastest growing events for the special day, Leah Kraus, the library’s assistant director, said the theme is what has driven such a high attendance to the event every year since it started.

“They’re so happy that we put it on,” Kraus said. “I think sometimes other St Patrick’s Day things may not have as much of a family focus.”

While it serves a fun family activity for some of the attendees, it also serves as an opportunity for families to cherish and celebrate Irish traditions that have been passed down multiple generations. Shannon Murphy Van Slyke, President of the Friends of Johnson Parents Club, is seeing her daughter follow in her footsteps as an Irish dancer at the Johnson School of Irish Dance who performed at the event.

“It’s just really great to keep all those traditions alive,” Van Slyke said. “You know, when when my parents put me in it, they just wanted me to learn the jig so that we could carry on the tradition for the next generation. And it was the same for my daughter.”

Syracuse Irish Sessions, the musical group who performed for the Saint Patrick’s Day celebration, has been playing traditional Irish tunes as a group since 1995. Harvey Nusbaum, the Sessions’ guitarist, expressed they’re not used to playing in front of major crowds, but the love for the music is what gets them out of their comfort zone.

“We’ve kept it going ever since because we like to play the music,” Nusbaum said. “There are like a hundred people watching you and you. It is a little bit nerve wracking, but you know it’s for the good.”

With the talents of both the Sessions and the Irish School of Dance bringing families together for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Kraus said that it brings a sense of relief to everyone who is apart of making this celebration happen.

“To finally be back to a place where we’re back to these big scale community events. It just it just feels like finally, finally.”

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