Ottawa's 2011 Rose

Fáilte!! Welcome,

As the 2011 Ottawa Rose of Tralee I will be keeping a blog here to keep everyone up to date on where I am and what I am doing. 

Below:

- A press release in case you want to know a little more about the festival and Rose Selection here in Ottawa

-A biography on myself (Kate Scott)

-A small note to my fellow roses <3

-Special thanks to my sponsors

-Events I will be attending for St. Patricks Day

-Photo from the selection at the residence of the Irish Embassador

ROSE OF TRALEE OTTAWA CENTRE IS SET TO SELECT THIS YEAR’S CANDIDATE TO SEND TO IRELAND

(OTTAWA – March 7, 2011) As the St. Patrick’s week festivities begin across the city, the Rose of Tralee Ottawa Centre prepares to select this year’s Ottawa Rose who will be a candidate to represent the Nation’s Capital in the 2011 Rose of Tralee International Festival in County Kerry, Ireland.

Each year, the Festival hosts young women from all over the world who gather to celebrate their Irish heritage. The Festival was initially conceived as a way to bring Irish descendants back to Ireland, as well as a means of boosting the local economy and regenerating the town of Tralee. It has since expanded to include centres from across the globe including Australia, New Zealand, the UAE, North America and Europe.

The Festival derived its name from a 19th century love story. William Mulchinock, a 19th century wealthy merchant from Tralee, wrote a song about his love for his maid Mary O'Connor. The song included the lyrics, "lovely and fair as the rose of summer, it was not her beauty alone that won me, oh no, ‘twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning’. As reflected in the song, the focus of the Festival is on the personal accomplishments of the Rose and her ability to act as a role model and ambassador for her centre and for the festival.

Before the final Ottawa selections at the residence of the Irish Ambassador hosted by CTV’s Michael O’Byrne, this year’s Rose candidates will participate in various activities including the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Led by Ottawa’s 2010 Rose, Laura Hay, the young ladies will tour around meeting the groups and organizations who are part of Ottawa’s thriving Irish community. The winning Rose will be selected by a panel of judges and will receive an all expenses paid trip to Ireland to represent the Ottawa Centre in the Rose of Tralee Regional Finals in County Laois. If the Ottawa Rose successfully makes it through Regionals, she will then return in August for the Rose of Tralee International Festival in County Kerry, Ireland.

The final selections on March 13 are open to the public and tickets can be purchased online at the Ottawa Rose of Tralee website: http://www.roseoftralee.ca/

Kate Scott - National Irish Canadian Cultural Centre (NICCC) Rose
Kate Scott's relatives are scattered throughout Canada so she found her place, as friends became family, within the Irish community in Ottawa. Kate will complete her Bachelors degree in Health Science at the University of Ottawa in the spring and hopes to continue her studies in Naturopathic Medicine eventually earning her Doctorate. Currently working as an Irish dance teacher, Kate hopes that being sponsored as a Rose in the festival will make her dancers proud! Kate looks forward to the opportunity to meet and network with like-minded people both in Ottawa and abroad and share their stories and her own with the world.  As a Rose, Kate will be true to her Irish heritage, true to her family, true to her friends, and perhaps most importantly, continue to be true to herself. Kate enjoys spending her free time playing the harp, walking her dogs, travelling, and boating. "I've always prided myself on being Irish, that is the easy part - sitting back and realizing that someone thought I was deserving of a sponsorship in order to stand alongside so many esteemed young women... now that's just a blessing!". As a 5th generation Canadian, Kate's Irish link is maternal. Her ancestors are from Corkstown, Co. Tyrone. Kate's great great grandmother left for Canada at 22 without her parents' consent on a trip to explore the world with her best girlfriend. She ended up working for the governor general in Montreal (so the family is told) as a cook where she met her future Scotsman husband at the morning market.

rose is a rose is a rose is a rose...[by: Gertrude Stein]

Ladies - Alice, Kait, Karianne, Lisa and Kari Leagh,

I must first say how happy I am to have met all of you! You are suuuuch wonderful women and am privelaged to have spent the weekend with all of you, it really was a wonderful, event filled weekend I do not think any of us will soon forget.

From Friday's late night chat, to the parade (great choreography Karianne!), to chatting with the folks at the afterparty, to being interviewed, to dinner with the judges and ceili dancing, to our very own little pub crawl, to laughing histerically over Kait's party piece (the dead chicken - yes, I knew about that on Saturday night but I was bound to a strict roomate confidentiality clause), to learning to take over the radio station in less than 2 minutes, to lunch at NICCC, to St. Pat's home,  to the selection ceremony....what a trip!!!

You are all such accomplished women...it still boggles my mind to think of all the amazing things you have all accomplished in so little time!

My hope is that we will all stay connected over the years and that I will see you all out at as many events as you can manage to attend because we are all roses for the year and I'd love the company!

Please know that you'll always have a place to stay in Ottawa (if you are not a local and you come to visit, let me know!)

Please keep me informed with how things are going on your end and I'll do that same.

Sláinte

To the National Irish Canadian Culture Centre (NICCC)

Thank you so much for you support! Without you, I would not have been able to take part in the festival. You've provided me not only with an opportunity to support and represent a community that I love, but also an opportunity for personal growth. A million thanks.

A special thank you to Siobhan and Rosemary O'Brien and family for their special love and support. Siobhan, you saw in me something I did not even know I had...thank you.

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow for lunch at St. Brigid's!

My Schedule for St. Patrick's Day (March 17/2011):

10:30 Ground Breaking at St. Pat's Home

11:30 Rogers TV appearance

12:30 Lunch at St. Brigid's

6:30- Dinner at the residence of the Embassador of Ireland with the other Roses!

Just remember

in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed
that with the sun's love
in the spring
becomes the rose

Austin Comerton (Left), Kate Scott, Pat McDonald & Mike Shaughnessy