25th Anniversary
2005

To help celebrate the 25th anniversary of Milwaukee Irish Fest, The Irish American Post will be running stories on some of the many volunteers who help make the world's largest Irish cultural event such a success. These features will appear in The Post over the next few months.

Schultz, Irish Bands Make Great Mix

By Martin Hintz

Kathy Schultz and her husband Russ were longtime Summerfest fans so when Festa Italiana and then German Fest came along using the same lakefront location, the couple attended those events, as well. 

"I suppose I must have seen Irish Fest advertising in 1981 and thought ‘at last!’ for the Irish," said the recently retired Milwaukee County social worker. The Schultzes were hooked from the first day of Irish Fest in 1981. "I loved it immediately," she offered, pointing out the Kean side of the family ensured appreciation of her heritage. 

Schultz’s grandparents made her feel that being Irish was a special and wonderful thing. "If there any musical talent within the family, it remained well-hidden but my grandpa Kean always sang I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen to me. When I was in grade school, one of my grandpa's sisters started a family history and sent us a copy," she recalled. 

"I remember reading about the Keans coming to this country in about 1850 and settling in Easton, Pa. My dad and I then found some books at the library on the Famine that probably drove them to America. I vaguely remembered my Kean grandmother's dad: Ahearn was the last name. He was a cooper. My grandmother grew up in Chicago and that all seemed rather exotic although I still know nothing about that part of the family. The bottom line was that I did not care much about my German background. But, the Irish was another thing entirely," Schultz said.

The most vivid memory of her first year of Irish Fest was seeing De Dannan sitting in a semi-circle "playing this brilliant music. Since I did not grew up with anyone playing that at home, it was new to me. But it felt like coming ‘home.’ The rhythms, gee, I was just blown away and hooked on the Fest," said the long-time volunteer at the festival’s summer school.

From this introduction, Schultz eventually began booking gigs for numerous Irish musicians, including Schooner Fare, David H.B. Drake and Ceol Cairde, as well as managing Maine artists Turkey Hollow, Dave Rowe and Denny Breau. More on that later.

Involved with Irish Fest

Schultz immediately became involved with Irish Fest, even taking tin whistle the first year of the Fest Summer School of 1987. She had taken a 10-week class through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Folk Center the year before,-inspired by Tom Rowe's tin whistle playing with Schooner Fare. She recalled that the class was on the intermediate level and she was not prepared for that. "The first day of the class, I rushed over to UWM from work, could not find the room, and had to ask for help. Pat Sadowski, who I did not know at the time, took me to the class." 

Schultz came into a room of flute players being coached by The instructor was Fr. Sean Egan. Among the students was John Ceszynski, about 18 years old at the time and able play anything by ear. But Schultz needed to played everything as a slow air because she had to read the music. "Nine years of piano at least gave me that," she laughed.

In addition, Eagan had hand-written the tunes, so the sheets were difficult to read. After the first few measures of a jig or reel, Schultz felt she was lost but then Sean asked everyone to play the tunes again at her tempo. 

"He was so kind and I did love the class, although felt badly that I was holding back the real musicians! I also re-connected during that time with Kristina (Schatzman) Paris who was taking flute with the school. Kristina and had I met a few years earlier when her son and mine were in first grade together," Schultz said.

The second year of the school, she took vacation for the week and went to every class I could cram in, realizing that having to read music was a major hindrance to playing Irish music. Subsequently, she signed up for bodhran instead of whistle. She saw more of Kristina and Pat and met Cease Grinwald and John Gleeson. A couple of years later when Grinwald decided to turn over running the school to others, she asked Paris, Sadowski, Gleeson, Nancy Walczyk and Schultz to take it over. Marnie Starr was one of that original group, as well. Schultz has been on the committee since that time.

Over the years, she has had different responsibilities. Currently, Schultz arranges with a caterer for box lunches for the students who purchase them in advance and she then helps hand out the meals during the school. She also set up housing for the instructors and proofread the schedule before it goes out. She also sends out information to several music magazines.

Challenge During School

One challenge during the school is making sure that everyone attending a particular class pays for that class. "We have tried getting the instructors to take attendance and those of us on the committee have stood at the door and tried to take attendance. But we can never find a foolproof way to stop people from attending classes they did not pay for. We welcome all ideas," she laughed.

She and her husband started out as Schooner Fare fans, talking to Chuck and Steve Romanoff and Tom Rowe, after a show at the festival or at small bars where the Wards booked them. "I remember that they played Rumdoodles in the Riverwest neighborhood in May, 1984 and two days later played at Pius school, at a kick-off to the festival that included Paddy and Molly McFest’s wedding," she said 

The group also performed several shows at Club Garibaldi and the Schultzes would hang around at the bar and talk with them afterwards. "We always seemed to spend the most time with Tom Rowe and always said, ‘Anytime you would like to come for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, we'd love to have you," she remembered. 

In March of 1989, Ed and Chuck Ward booked the band for a show at the Southern Plantation, the old Allis Chambers clubhouse in West Allis. Rowe stopped Schultz before the show and said he had been trying to reach her to say that he would love to come over to her home the next day, that Saturday. 

"We were with friends and when I told them, they said, ‘Be careful what you wish for!’ I was thrilled, but also wondering if all three would come and worrying about what we would serve, when I could clean the house and all those other details. I rather nervously picked Tom up at the Park East Hotel the next morning — Steve and Chuck slept in. And, it was fine - like having family over," Schultz said.

By late 1989, Schultz was planning to bring Schooner Fare into Milwaukee for a major concert and approached Ed and Chuck Ward about the festival and Shamrock Club backing. "They did not know me but of course I knew who they were. When both organizations agreed to underwrite the concert, if needed, my dad and I joined the Shamrock Club and I starting attending Fest board meetings, the get-away weekends and other activities in order to get to know people and feel more a part of the Irish community," she said.

About this same time. a long-time social work/artist friend asked me what I wanted to be when I "grew up." I met the friend in college - she was an art major, I was in journalism and we talked about our hopes and dreams. 

Needed a Job

She graduated before I did and, needing a job right away in the late 1960s, took the Milwaukee County civil service exam for a social worker position. Schultz also started working for Milwaukee County and did not really think about doing anything else, she admitted. In 1989, Schultz’s friend was also running a part-time art gallery in Riverwest and asked Schultz for help in finding find music for a two-day Riverwest Art Walk. 

"From someplace in my brain, came the answer that as a non-musician, I wanted to be involved with music, either as a band manager or something," Schultz said, agreeing to help. But because there was no money to pay anyone, she called called local musician David H.B. Drake for advice.

Drake suggested calling the Milwaukee Musicians Co-op, since all the other local musicians were playing West Fest. Schultz followed his advice and ended up booking most of the performers that way, along with a couple of people she had met while taking tin whistle through the UWM Folk Center. 

As a backup, Schultz also called Kristina Paris who had started an Irish band called Ceol Cairde, which was playing its first gig at Irish Fest. Immediately, Schultz got Paris to commit to the art walk for her second gig. Eventually, Schultz brought in so many of musicians that she had to find a larger venue in a Riverwest bar. 

Each brought a music stand and sheet music to that performance "Bill Crowley was about the only professional musician. They were heavy, really heavy on tin whistles," Schultz chuckled. 

Schultz loved being involved in that event. Subsequently, when Rowe came over to the house during Irish Fest in 1989, I was in the midst of the art walk planning. She apparently asked the musician how Schooner Fare booked their shows. He subsequently sent Schultz the band’s press kit shortly thereafter. Schooner Fare then came back to Milwaukee that October for a benefit on behalf of the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance.

"A couple of days later, I was frustrated trying to figure out where to get appropriate clothing for several children I had placed with their grandparents. I was working in the Milwaukee County child abuse/neglect assessment area at that time. There was no money to give relatives for clothing. The children had nothing and needed to get back into school and neither the grandparents nor I wanted them to "stick out " with shabby 
clothing. 

One of the protective supervisors had a small fund for emergencies, used for paying a connection fee to the Wisconsin Gas Company so the social workers did not have to place children in foster care because there was no heat in the home. Sometimes, the money was used to reimburse the workers who paid for medicine for children, prior to taking them to a foster home on an emergency basis late at night. 

Schultz recalled that the agency used to raise money for that fund by having bake and popcorn sales, but it probably had never more than $200 at any given time. 

"The thought crossed my mind that day that Schooner Fare could do a concert and help raise money for that fund. It seemed like a totally insane thought but it kept coming back to me over the next few days," Schultz said. So, she called Rowe and asked if the band would do something like that. 

"They were really pleased as they wanted to do a larger concert on a regular basis rather than play the bars in Milwaukee. So, even though I had only the experience of the Riverwest Art Walk, they were willing to ‘sign on,’ she enthused. 

"Looking back, I can't imagine that I ever had the gumption to say I 
would do it. I think naiveté played a huge part! Kristina was also a 
real role model. She dreamed of a band and made it happen and she dreamed of doing a music school at her home and was just starting that in 1989," said Schultz.

Supportive from the First

Tom Brophy, then director of Milwaukee County Health and Human Services and someone Schultz had known since her first days working for Milwaukee County, was supportive from the first. He thought doing this for the worker's "slush fund" was great idea and referred her to a Milwaukee County volunteer who helped me rent Serb Hall for Oct. 19, 1990, at a fee of only $200. 

The volunteer also told me about tax numbers, audits and many things over and above just wanting to put on a concert as a fund-raiser, according to Schultz. But it soon became apparent that there were too many problems with raising money for the social worker's fund, particularly person who kept the money did not want to open a bank account or get a tax number. There was also the question on it be administered? 

Brophy suggested giving money to the Safe House, a facility for abused and neglected children that was scheduled to open in early 1990. 

By this time,Schultz had talked to the Wards who gave her their blessing. Paris suggested that maybe a new organization she helped start, Milwaukee Inter-Celtic Cooperative, would be an underwriter. Schultz started going to meetings and remained a member through the life of MICC but it was apparent there was no money for underwriting there. 

I would guess that Ed and Chuck Ward initially thought I was just an inexperienced, fanatic Schooner Fare fan who actually wasn't going to go through with putting on a concert. Once Chuck, who was then president of the Shamrock Club, realized this was really happening, he offered underwriting by the Shamrock Club and Irish Fest. Chuck was a great help during the planning for that first concert, Schultz said. 

She added, "Chuck said something so nice to me as a response when I went to him for help for the second concert. It was something along the lines of ‘You know what you are doing-you don't need me.’"

"Someone gave me good advice when Irish Fest agreed to underwrite the Schooner Fare concerts. The advice was that if I was going to involve the Fest, I needed to follow through with what I said I would do. If I came back later on and said I had taken on too much and wanted someone else to take over, here would not be any sympathy — unless, of course, there was something serious such as an illness. I was told that everyone connected with the Fest was very competent and expected everyone else to be too," Schultz said.

That first concert in 1990 sold out with almost 700 persons at Serb Hall . the crowd was so large that people were turned away. 

Schooner Fare Booked

Ed Ward then booked Schooner Fare for a benefit for the Brendan Heart Fund in November, 2001, at the Pabst Theatre. The second concert I planned was the spring of 2002 and we have done this annually since that time. Proceeds benefited the Safe House for three years and La Causa's Crisis Nursery for seven. 

In 2001, the beneficiary was the Ward Irish Music Archives and in 2002 the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center. In 2003 and 2004, it was the Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin. The concert moved from Serb Hall in 1994 to the Waukesha Exposition Center and in 1995 to the Pitman Theater at Alverno College. 

Initially, Schooner Fare made a set amount and after paying rent and related concert expenses, proceeds from ticket sales as well as an ad book went to the beneficiary. The donation averaged around $5,000 a year during that time. For the past several years, Schooner Fare has been the actual producer for the concert as they take total financial responsibility. 

As the years went on, Schultz did not feel it was necessary any longer for either the Fest or Shamrock Club to underwrite the concerts although she always credited each organization in her written material because of their long-time support. Schultz stopped doing an ad book in 2003, saying that 12 years of selling ads all by herself was enough for anyone.

There is now a raffle the night of the concert with ticket donations from Irish Fest, Midwest Airlines, the Milwaukee Symphony, the ICHC and other organizations and companies. Some of the Schooner Fare fans donate hand-made items including quilts and baskets. Each raffle has raised right around $1,000. That was true even in 2004 despite the fact that attendance dropped from an average of 720 to 450. 

Schultz attributed Tom Rowe's death in January, 2004, for the drop in attendees. In addition, she said, Schooner Fare played Irish Fest every year beginning in 1982 through 1996. They were brought back in 1999 and 2001. 

Because they have not played the Fest regularly, Schultz hadn’t added many new names to her mailing for years. Age, health problems, retirement and subsequent moves have taken a toll on attendance. Still, it is remarkable that the band has maintained fans from not only the Milwaukee area but, Chicago, St. Paul, Indianapolis and other Midwestern cities over the years. The concerts have remained Schultz’s "project." She indicated that it was easier for her to do the work herself rather than have to wait for a committee meeting. 

However, fans have come forward to offer help, Schultz said, praising Irish Fest volunteers Bonnie and Mike Camp as friends who are always on hand when she need them. 

Mike Camp is the director of the Wisconsin Southeastern Regional Crime Laboratory, Schultz explained. "When he found out that I hand-wrote 1000 envelopes for mailings each year, he offered to put them on a computer disk and do annual updates for me," she said thankfully. 

Typesetting Paid For

Schultz paid for typesetting, as well as printing for the ad book for years. Camp then taught himself to typeset whatever needed typesetting for the ad book. "Catholic Family Life Insurance has been a wonderful supporter from the first year and for the past few years has been printing first the ad book and now a program for the concert for free," Schultz added. "The night of the show, people I've become friends with over the years, usher and sell CDs. Mike Camp runs the raffle. Who could ask for more!" she went on.

Even with her concert work, Schultz is still very active with Irish Fest, although she was not involved behind the scenes for the first several years. "When I started to see all the work and planning, I realized what an incredible event it was and what a treasure. When I try to explain the Fest to people, I always tell them it was a dream that a few people had and that fortunately one of those dreamers was Ed Ward. I like to think I have some good ideas. But Ed, he is always dreaming and thinking," said Schultz. 

As an example, Schultz told about when she, Ward and Barry Stapleton, the archivist for the John J. Ward Music Archives, attended the 2003 North American Folk Alliance annual conference in Nashville. Margaret Nelson and Phil Cooper, two musicians from Illinois, had a booth across from my table for Maine performers Turkey Hollow. Schultz admired Nelson’s wonderful handmade puppets and when Ward saw them and immediately came over and said, "Wouldn't that be a great class for the summer school?" 

Schultz said that she heard many times from performers that they love playing the Fest for many reasons, but in large part because they are treated so well and everything is done so professionally. The festival has certainly grown in scope and it is a business. But it is a business run by people who do everything very well but never forget the performers, the public. It is still like family, just a much bigger one," she offered.

Schultz has had many wonderful experiences working with the fest, most have to do with performers she met in conjunction with the school. "I am first of all a fan of so many of the performers so to actually spend time with them is a thrill. Tommy Makem was teaching a class, I don’t remember exactly when. But he was also on a panel with Liam Clancy that year. I was asked to pick him up at the Park East and bring him to his class. So I went up to him after the panel discussion the night before his class and gave him my phone number," she said. 

The next day Schultz had a message from him that she didn't erase that message for a week. She picked up the noted performer at the hotel and he wanted to go down to the grounds to drop off something. Schultz was so nervous that rather than going straight on Michigan Street, she turned right and ended up on the Hoan Bridge near the festival grounds. In addition, it was also the second day of driving a very large and new vehicle and Schultz had a difficult time parking it on the grounds. 

"He finally asked me in that wonderful voice, ‘Would ye like me to park it for you?’" she laughed. 

One of Schultz’s responsibilities that year was helping out the cooking instructor so she saved some potatoes for Makem, who always asserted that "a day without potatoes is a day without sunshine." After his Summer School class ended, Schultz brought him to the cooking class. He ate and sang and told stories to the cooking instructor, Schultz and two other people. Since that time, she said she has spent more time with Tommy and doesn't get nervous anymore. 

When Mary McDonagh taught Gaelic at the school, she was married to Johnny McDonagh, Schultz spent quite a bit of time with her. When her husband came in for the festival, Schultz spent time with him, too. On Thursday night, the trio went over to the bar at the Park East. "The Tannahill Weavers came in and joined Johnny at the bar and eventually a number of other performers. Again, it was a thrill for me," she added.

Good Times Related

Schultz also related other good times with Schooner Fare, seeing them at the festival was especially fun because she knew them better. "Hearing the audience response was always exciting. I learned early on that making a living performing has its ups and downs," she warned. 

The first concert Schultz organized for the group was a Friday night in 1990. The next night, they played a bar on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. Schultz, her husband and their son Steve, then age 15 , drove down with them and all stayed at the same motel arranged by the person promoting the concert. Luckily everyone had lunch at the Park East before they left because the Scultzes did not eat again for 24 hours. There were all kinds of problems with the motel, especially when the desk clerk did not accept the band’s credit card. So check-in took an hour. 

"After seeing our room for the first time, I mentioned to Steve Romanoff that the bathroom door had some interesting graffiti and he said, ‘You have a bathroom door?’," Schultz recalled.

Irish Fest was the start of a "collection" for Schultz, who always loved music, especially rock and blues. When she first heard groups such as DeDannan in the early 1980s, she started buying LPs and began listening to the "Simply Folk" radio show hosted by Judy Rose on WHAD-90.7-FM from Madison. Schultz recalled Rose playing many of the Irish groups so she would hear a song at the festival and then hear the same song by someone on the folk show and then buy another LP. 

"Somehow, I learned about Elderly Instruments in Michigan and would call them for advice on Irish groups," Schultz indicated. 

Because Tom Rowe played tin whistle, I took lessons at UWM but also ordered LPs with tin whistle tunes. "Tom wrote down the song that he played and I loved, Si Bheag, Si Mhor by Turlough O'Carolan. I called Elderly Instruments and mentioned that song and composer. Elderly referred me to Planxty because that record firm had some O'Carolan tunes. On and on it went with collecting," Schultz lamented in jest. 

Through the tin whistle classes, she met people from Milwaukee's folk community and then the festival’s Summer School started. "All of this music and people were a collection and it just kept growing. Apparently, I wanted to be involved in some way. All of the years of piano lessons, and then tin whistle, let me know that I was never going to be a musician but there were other ways to get closer to what I had come to love," she said.

"I have done a tiny bit of booking for Schooner Fare but otherwise Schooner Fare and the concert has always been a ‘hobby.’ When Schooner Fare cut back on their performing in the mid-1990s due to Steve Romanoff taking a position as a professor at the University of Southern Maine, Tom and Chuck had some decisions to make. Neither wanted to go back to their day jobs. Chuck was in social work and Tom taught music in public schools," she said. 

The two tried to find work as a duo but there did not seem to be much interest so Chuck did return to his primary job. Rowe looked around and "discovered" his son, Dave. Young Rowe had grown up surrounded by music, as he played under the board while his dad mixed Schooner Fare's albums. "Dave resisted music until he couldn't. Once he started with an instrument, he gobbled up one after the other. By the time he was 15, he was playing bass with two of Tommy Makem's sons," Schultz said. 

Dave Rowe left the Hartt College of Music at the University of Hartford after a semester — even though he had a full scholarship —to make music his career. Son and dad started performing together and recording as Rowe by Rowe in the mid-1990s, when Dave was in his early 20s. 

Schultz found some work for the duo in Wisconsin and Illinois "just as a friend." They were playing in Wisconsin in early 1998 and asked if she would be their manager and booking agent. Schultz did not give them an answer for several months because she knew of the hard work, especially since she still had her job as a social worker. 

"I wondered how I would find the time to look for work for them in the Northeast and beyond," she asked herself. 

Called by Old Friend

In April, 1998, the elder Rowe was called by an old friend, Denny Breau. "Tom had a high school group and met Denny when they performed at his junior high. Denny came up afterwards and made a comment about them being pretty good but needing a better guitar player," Schultz said. "Denny was the younger brother of jazz guitar legend Lenny Breau and his parents were RCA country recording artists so Tom knew he had the family credentials. He played a little and Tom hired him on the spot," Schultz remembered. 

The group went on after high school until Breau was drafted in 1970. So when he called Rowe in 1998, he said he had always been a full-time musician but he was tired of playing in bars. According to Schultz, he wondered if Rowe knew of a group that might be interested in him. He wanted to play coffeehouses and festivals,. doing the things that Schooner Fare did. "So, after a 30-year hiatus, Tom hired Denny a second time — on the spot," said Schultz. She did not meet Breau until the new trio came to Milwaukee, billed as Turkey Hollow, for some shows she set up in October, 1998. 

Her love of her friends was really tested in the months just before Rowe died of cancer. Turkey Hollow was offered a formal showcase at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference in upstate New York in November, 2003. Schultz flew to Maine and then drove to the conference with the three men. 

During this time, Rowe told her that he had just had an X-ray that showed a growth in his throat. He was having a biopsy within a few days and was resigned that he had cancer, said Schultz. "He was determined to do whatever it took to fight it, however. The weekend was difficult. Their brief showcase began with no sound. By the time, things were up and working, the set was cut even shorter. Tom, who was always so even-tempered, was upset. But of course, he had other things on his mind," Schultz said.

Rowe performed for the last time on Dec. 13. On the 15th, he was hospitalized for five days in order to receive intensive chemotherapy. That proved so successful that his doctors seemed very encouraged. He had a second round of chemo in early January. But the next week, instead of starting to feel better, Rowe was getting progressively weaker. He went to a clinic every day for hydrating and monitoring. 

Former Schooner Fare member Romanoff went to see the ill musician on Jan. 11 while he was being hydrated and gave Rowe an autographed that he had picked up on a Schooner Fare Fan Club Cruise in the western Caribbean. The reunited band had gone on with the trip, despite Rowe’s absence, because it was too to cancel. 

Rowe was hospitalized that Friday because his blood pressure had plummeted. His brother called the Schultzes that night. "When the phone rang early Saturday morning, I knew even before Denny told me. Steve and Chuck were doing a two-night annual Washington Area Folk Organization fundraiser at the Birchmere along with many other performers," Schultz said. 

"When Steve got the phone call Saturday morning he said, ‘I knew. It was an angry ring." Subsequently, Chuck and Steve Romanoff took the first plane back to Maine and learned that an autopsy showed that Rowe had a 90% blocked coronary artery. "His heart could not handle the treatment," said Schultz.

She and her husband, Russ, plus Ed and Chuck Ward went to Maine In February for the memorial service. "It was on a Sunday so when we got in on Saturday, we met Steve and Chuck at an Irish bar in Portland. We toasted Tom with Irish beer and told stories. Tom loved a good time with good friends so we thought it was a fitting tribute," Schultz remembered. 

During the service, Steve, Chuck, Denny and Dave sang "Fiddler's Green," the song that really brought Schooner Fare together. Rowe had met the Romanoff brothers in 1975 as part of a larger group. One of them started playing that song while they were waiting to go onstage and when the other two joined in "sparks were ignited," Schultz said.

Schultz also attended a concert that Dave Rowe put on for his dad on May 8, 2004, in Portland. All the performers donated their time and the several thousand dollars raised will go to a music scholarship in Tom's name. Tommy Makem performed, as well as the Makem Brothers and Eugene Byrne, along with numerous other musicians. At the show, the Romanoffs brought Dave onstage to do "Si Bheag Si Mhor," sounding just like his father, according to Schultz.

When Rowe died, Schultz thought that she couldn’t go on doing the bookings. Although it was hard for everyone, they have decided the last thing Rowe would have wanted was the music to stop because it meant, she said. Subsequently, the Romanoffs decided to continue as Schooner Fare and Schultz continued organizing shows for them. Denny and Dave stayed on as Turkey Hollow.

Young Rowe finished an CD of Irish songs, calling it Big Shoes in honor of his father, said Schultz. During the recording the spring of 2004, he teamed up with a fiddle player Ed Howe and bassist Kevin O'Reilly as the Dave Rowe Trio. "Denny and Dave each have solo careers too. As long as they all keep playing the music, I'll keep trying to find opportunities for them to be heard. Sometimes I feel that Tom is standing behind me telling me to ‘find some work for my boys,’" she said.

"All of this — with the music- Schooner Fare, Turkey Hollow — I know I would not have done any of this had it not been for Irish Fest," Schultz concluded.