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Irish Man, Irish Rose

Shamrock Club of New Dublin names the Wilsons

By John Faucher


Lamar and Jane Wilson are the Shamrock Club of New Dublin’s Irish Man and Irish Rose for this year’s St. Patrick’s festivities.

Lamar and Jane both have deep ties to the Irish community here.

The son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Simon Wilson of Northport, Lamar is a 1965 graduate of New London High School and retired U.S Army colonel of 27 years.

Jane is the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Donald Guerin of New London. She is a 1966 graduate of New London High School and recently retired from a 30-year career in health care.

The couple celebrated 54 years of marriage on March 9.

They have four children and five grandchildren.

“We’ve always tried to instill the Irish culture and traditions in our children and now, grandchildren,” the Wilsons said.

Jane thinks at least some of that came from Lamar playing Irish music out in the garage for the kids from an early age.

“They all got it good,” she said with a chuckle.

“Now they can’t wait to come back for the annual Irish Fest. It’s just a wonderful culture and the people are fun loving,” she said.
Lamar grew up in an Irish household.

His family is among the early Irish settlers who farmed land in Northport and Lebanon.

His great grandparents on his mother’s side were direct immigrants from Ireland who settled in Montana.

“My mother always told me when she went out to see her grandmother she could barely understand what she said, because the Irish baroque was so strong,” said Lamar.

They lived in a stone and log cabin on a big horse ranch. Their roots came from County Westmeath Ireland.

Lamar said Wilson is not really an Irish name, but there has always been a thought that somewhere along the line it was changed to Wilson to avoid ethnic persecution.

Appreciating Irish culture

The Wilsons have traveled to Ireland and said they hope to visit there again soon.

“The culture is so laid back compared to what we do to ourselves here,” said Jane. “It’s like slowing down life.”

She recalls returning from a seven or eight day trip in Ireland and finding herself slowly strolling around the grocery store instead of speed shopping like she had previously done.

“You just actually slow down and enjoy one another at everyday things, like meal time. Nobody is in a hurry. They’d sit around and talk afterwards,” Jane said.

Lamar agrees, “The Irish have it way ahead of us,” he said with a chuckle.

“The people are so friendly it’s unbelievable,” Lamar explained.

No matter where they went in Ireland he said someone was always approaching them to say hello and introduce themselves.

During their trip, complete strangers would offer themselves as unofficial welcome ambassadors, tour guides and local historians.
“That’s very typical of how the Irish people are,” said Lamar.

One young man they met from Dublin took them around, showed them sights and explained the concept of ‘holiday’ and land sharing among families.

Land ownership is sparse on an Island country.

Jane said you’ll often find very close knit families with grandparents, parents and their kids living together on small parcels of land next to each other.

“That’s one of the great things about Ireland,” she said.

The whole pub scene is different than ours too, explains Lamar.

“You come into pubs in the afternoon at two, three o’clock. They meet and maybe have a pint but they’re not really there to drink. They’re there to talk to their neighbors.

Then at night there’s always a local group that plays or sings and they bring their kids too,” said Lamar.

He asked one gentleman why his kids were along at the pub.

The man replied, “They’re learning to play with the band.”

Most of the time, the gatherings are rather informal and not planned.

“It’s not like it’s an organized performance. They just show up and someone will start to sing or play an instrument,” Lamar explained.
“The best part of Ireland is definitely the people,” said Wilson.

New Dublin’s local heritage and annual celebration of Irish culture, music, dance and family entertainment are reminders of the culture they saw overseas.

“My dad always said there are two kinds of people. Those that are Irish and those that wish they were Irish,” said Lamar with a laugh.

“Come time for New Dublin days, everybody’s Irish and that’s good, it’s a great thing,” said Wilson.

Growing up in Northport

Wilson has fond memories of growing up in Northport.

His family attended St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Lebanon where he served mass and now two of his granddaughters serve today.

Lamar’s father had a herd of dairy cows and worked full time at Kimberly Clark. Eventually he transitioned his farm over to raising beef.

Lamar recalls many long hours bailing hay and picking stones in the fields.

“The stones never stopped,” said Lamar.

Earl Petit helped Lamar’s dad on the farm when it came time to take in crops or fix machinery.

Earl used to tell Lamar stories of how when he was younger the farmers from the area used horses to haul stone boats filled with rocks from their fields to the masons building the church in Lebanon.

Jane’s grandfather lived in the same area where Lamar’s parents lived so there was a close family connection that way.

Jane and Lamar didn’t start dating until after high school.

“I was a city girl,” explained Jane.

Her parents Donald and Irene lived in New London where they raised eleven children.

“I didn’t know anything about farming until I met Lamar,” said Jane.

One day Lamar’s dad called her and asked her to come out and help pick stones for a few days.

“The next year he called again. I said what? ‘’ We just picked stones last year,” Jane said. “It seemed like a never ending thing.”

The Northport and Lebanon area are known for their constant supply of new stones emerging in the fields annually.

John Egan, a close friend of Lamar’s, still farms part of the old Wilson farm land.

“When John first started renting it he called me up and asked didn’t you ever pick any stones?”

“Seemed like all we ever did was pick stones,” said Lamar with a chuckle.

Shamrock Club honors

Lamar and Jane have volunteered at New Dublin’s Irish Fest for many years. They’ve helped with everything from taking tickets to cooking sandwiches and even rigging up surprises with the late Mike Coyle in the early days of Finnegan’s Wake.

The couple was surprised when they received a call from Shamrock Club members Leah Looker and Mooch Barrington, informing them they were selected as this year’s Irish Man and Irish Rose.

“When they called, I thought they were looking for help at the tent,” said Lamar. “It took us by surprise.”

The couple is looking forward to seeing the parade and participating in the week’s activities from a different angle this year.

“Our kids have always returned home for the Grand Parade and Irish Fest,” said the Wilsons. “This year will be special and they’re really looking forward to it.”

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