Don and Connie Laughlin as Irish Man and Irish Rose

NEW DUBLIN – Spirits are bubblin’ in New Dublin once again. As sure as the signs of spring surround us, the Shamrock Club of New Dublin welcomes the start of a weeklong St. Pat’s in New London.
The club’s annual Leprechaun Day is Monday, March 17, where they change the signs of the city to New Dublin, officially kicking off the week’s activities leading up to the 41st annual grand parade and Irish Fest Saturday, March 22.
Don and Connie Laughlin are this year’s Irish Man and Irish Rose dignitaries.
The two high school age sweethearts met at Reineke’s Tap in Sugar Bush and forged a friendship that soon turned to love.

A love story

Connie Fredrick graduated from Clintonville High School in 1977. Don, a self-described “rambler,” jack-of-all-trades, fixer, and salvage yard wrench graduated the same year from New London.
Laughlin said he knew there was a special spark the moment they met.
“I was in love,” he said. “I would do anything to see her.”
His dad Gene Laughlin and Uncle Dale Reese owned a salvage yard together. Don and his older brother Blair worked at the salvage yard from an early age on, they collected copper to pay for their first dirt bikes back in the day.
Don remembers one time riding his dirt bike all the way back from a family vacation up north hundreds of miles away just to see Connie.
“I ran out of gas on the way back near Manawa and pushed the bike to a nearby farm to get some gas.
I was bound and determined to see her,” he said with a laugh.
“Back in those days, that’s when you would never meet a car on the road.”
The couple married June 5, 1982 at St. Patrick’s Church in Lebanon.
They settled just down the road and started their family in the Township of Lebanon.
Their home off Crain Road is near Highway Truck Parts where Don has worked for 50 years with his brother Blair and late father Gene.
Connie worked in the New London School District as a kitchen worker and as a food service bookkeeper for a total of 28 years. Today she is retired but volunteers at the New London Senior Meal Site and at the New London Hospital gift shop.
Don has also served for 26 years as a Town of Lebanon Supervisor.
The couple has four children, three daughters Melissa, Heather, Ashley and a son Tyler.
They also enjoy three grandchildren, all of whom will be visiting over the St. Pat’s celebrations in New Dublin.

Getting involved
The three girls will serve as parade judges for the 41st annual parade on March 22.
“I’ve always been a parade nut,” says Don.
The couple recalls bringing the kids to the St. Pat’s parades in the 1980s and 90s.
“Now we really don’t get to see the parades anymore,” he said.

In recent years, he and Connie have been busy either working in the parade or working at the tent.
In 2013, the couple got involved with the Shamrock Club as volunteers.
“We attended the event for years before that. We saw the tremendous groups of people they draw and there’s never enough arms, legs and hands to keep everyone going so we decided it was time to join and help out,” said Don.
“We knew we needed to get involved with this.”
“The Shamrock Club donates a lot of money to the people and causes in this community and we were at a point where we wanted to help out and give something back,” said Connie.
You don’t have to be Irish to join.
Don joked around a bit since their family origins are German, French and Ojibwa.
“We live in an Irish town, we’ve traveled to Ireland, and we live on an Irish road, but we’re not Irish”, he said with a smile.
They were still welcomed into the Shamrock club and have assumed various roles ever since.
Don has served as past President and Vice President of the Shamrock Club.
He is there every year helping to set up the entertainment area for Irish Fest and he’s worked on other projects like the club’s dignitary float and painting shamrocks along the parade route.
Connie has worked various jobs from tending bar on the big day, to taking tickets and working hospitality at the dignitary stand in addition to planning during meetings throughout the year.
“There’s a lot of planning going on through a lot of different members to get this show on the road. Like anything, it’s not all just the day of. It would be nice if it was that way but that’s not the way it works,” said Don Laughlin.
“We’ve been fortunate to come up with some newer members that have been pretty active in doing things and taking over the reins and lining up jobs from some of us old farts, “explained Laughlin.
“New ideas make things better and we’ve learned. Never shun someone for having new ideas. That’s what we all want in the end is to make things better and not shun new people away,” he said.
The Shamrock Club also works with a large number of other groups and organizations to make the event possible. Some groups use it as a way to earn income for their organizations.
“In the end, it’s the fellowship. You want people to get involved because of the fellowship, and what it does for the community,” said Laughlin.
“Yes, it’s quite a job for those several days,” says Don. “But it’s a rush at the end of the day. It’s like what happened? The people came. We got through it. That’s the rush. The music turns into background noise and it all just becomes, one big hum when you are in it working there,” he said.
This year the Laughlin’s will enjoy a different perspective from inside the parade and from the grandstands watching the rest of the parade follow suit.
They said they are humbled by the selection to be this year’s Irish Man and Irish Rose.
“When I think about the people that have been fortunate enough to be Irish Man and Irish Rose the past 40 years, it’s an honor,” said Don.
Connie agreed. “We’re following the footsteps of a lot of good people. It still doesn’t feel real yet,” she said.
Most of all she’s looking forward to seeing the grandkids and children all come home for the event.