Residents' Community Involvement, Generosity Lands Them Roles as Irishman, Irish Rose

Ozaukee County Sherrif Maury Straub said he is three-quarters Irish, and celebrating St. Patrick's Day has long been a part of his life.

"We always celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with corned beef and cabbage," he said. "St. Patrick's Day has always been a fun day."

This year only adds to his fun, as organizers for the second annual St. Patrick's Day event on March 17 in Port Washington chose Straub as the Irishman of the Year.

Local real estate agent and Chamber of Commerce President Barb Beattie joins Straub as the Irish Rose, an honor chosen based on community involvement and generosity, according to event organizer Dooley Vogel.

Rick Nelson and Shirley Gruen filled the shoes of the honored "Irish" in last year's event.

Beattie is of Luxembourger descent, but said her husband is full-fledge Irish and that corned beef and cabbage is one of his favorites.

"I do feel truly blessed to have been chosen," Beattie said. "It’s kind of an honor."

Straub echoed her sentiments about the honor, adding that he felt particularly proud about the community involvement aspect.

"Maury and Barb are perfect people to celebrate the Irish Spirit," Vogel said, adding that the two are role models in the community, and that they easily exemplify all the pillars of the local initiative Character Counts.

The Character Counts program focuses on trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship, and several school and community events are based around the initiative.

But rather than tout the reasons either were chosen for the role or brag about their character, both Straub and Beattie were quick to explain what the event does for the community as a whole.

"It’s a fun event for Port Washington," Straub said, "and if it brings people to Port Washington, they’ll see what a fun place this is — anything we can do for the downtown community, the businesses and so forth — and this is a fun way to do it."

"We all love Port Washington," Beattie said. "And, from what I understand, there are people coming from all different areas — this is just growing and growing, it’s just mushrooming."

Port Washington Police Chief Richard Thomas, who has been working with Vogel on some of the planning, agreed that the hope is the event will turn into the place to be for the St. Patrick's Day holiday, drawing people from surrounding areas.

Both Straub and Beattie will ride in the parade as part of the their honor, and Beattie said she has heard rumors of having a green convertible to drive them around.

So what's new?
Vogel is largely behind the planning of the daylong event, which she calls the "new and improved version."

This year's event features an art show and contest, a parade, Irish breakfast at several restaurants, an Irish wild game dinner, a silent auction, live music from Vinyl Groove and more. Last year featured a parade and smaller scale party celebrations.

Vogel said lunch plans and midday activities are in the makings, though details are not completely set in stone.

The art contest offers a $300, $200 and $100 prize for first, second and third place, respectively, Vogel said. Entries are due by 5 p.m. Friday.

Art entered in the contest should focus on Irish landscapes, Vogel said, and the only other limit on entries is that they are able to hang on the wall.

Artists wishing to enter must show up at the Shoppe's of Port Washington, formerly the Lueptow Furniture building, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday or Friday, Vogel said. Art will remain on display until March 20, but artists must be present at the St. Patrick's Day drawing to win.

Post-party fun and transportation
The St. Patrick's Day celebration features a post-parade-party at The Patio, 601 N. Wisconsin St., set to start at about 6:30 p.m.

The Rev. Tom Lijewski of will bless the crowd at the event, which will also feature some music by a bagpiper, Tyler Tuttle — who celebrates his 13th birthday on St. Patrick's Day and also will lead the parade.

An Irish wild game dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m., with live music by Vinyl Groove. The silent auction will be available throughout the post party.

In recognizing that the events's attendees are likely to also take part in St. Patrick's Day celebrations other than the specific events at The Patio, Thomas said the will offer free shuttles from the marina to the patio starting at 6:30 p.m. and lasting until 10 p.m.

For more event information, contact Vogel at 262-894-2632 or check out the , which will update as more event information becomes available.