Listowel Arms Now and 10 years ago
January 2016
2006
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Badminton, a shop refurbishment and an old dance card
Junior Griffin tells the story:
What, one may
well ask, has the famed city of Jericho and the Listowel Badminton Club in
common?
The Bible
story tells us that Joshua and his Israelites marched around Jericho, then
shouted and blew their trumpets so that the walls came tumbling down.
There is no
doubt whatsoever that the writing of this history of the Listowel Badminton
Club would never have been considered but for the destruction of another wall.
A few short
years ago local business man and former badminton club member, Mr. Jimmy Halpin
moved his fishing and shooting supplies business to number 24, Church Street,
Listowel. The premises needed extensive renovations to cater for his business,
which meant many of the inner walls had to be knocked, not to the sound of
trumpets but with the use of jackhammers and the tools of today.
On examining
the rubble, Mr. Halpin and his workmen found numerous newspapers, all tightly
folded as if they were inserted for insulation. On checking the papers it was
found that the headlines of most dealt with the earthquake and the destruction
of San Francisco in 1906.
On turning
over a page he saw something falling to the ground. On examining it, Mr.
Halpin found it to be a beautifully decorated and well preserved invitation
card (illustrated) with a short pencil attached, to a dance under the
auspices of the Listowel Hockey and Badminton Clubs to be held on Friday
December 16th 1908.
The music
listed was definitely different to the music that is heard in the dance halls
of today with many classical pieces being to the fore and the pencil possibly
used by the ladies to reserve a dance if asked by a gentleman. One wonders did
that inspire the writer to pen the tune “ Save the last waltz for me”.
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A Few Dates for you to Pencil in
Make sure you catch Listowel Drama Group in St. John’s from February 11 to 14 2016. Their Blithe Spirit is a must see. Listowel needs to get behind them as they head off to the tough world of drama festivals.
The Exhibition will showcase works of art, photography, felting & assemblage. Participating artists include, Rebecca Carroll, (not in photo), Liam Brennan (not in photo), Jim Dunne, Noreen Breen, Malcome Donald, Lisa Fingleton, Viveca Amoto, Susan Hitching, Marie Brennan, David Morrison, Mary Finucane & Arian Everson. This Exhibition is in co-operation with Newcastlewest Arts. For further details contact Rebecca Carroll (Colourful Spirits) @ 087 4577979 or Vicky Nash (Red Door Gallery) @ 086 2517086
The Exhibition will be official launched by Billy Keane (Journalist & publican)
