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The Shamrock Club of Wisconsin is the oldest and largest Irish American membership organization in the State of Wisconsin. It was founded on March 17, 1960, in Milwaukee. Currently there are chapters in Milwaukee, Rock County, (Beloit and Janesville), Northeastern Wisconsin, (Green Bay), South Central, (Baraboo), Dane County (Madison), New London, La Crosse, and Lafayette County, (Darlington). The Shamrock Club was organized by members of Milwaukee's Irish community who had been a part of the Milwaukee Holiday Folk Fair's annual November festival. Helped by the International Institute of Wisconsin, the Club met to organize on March 17, 1960, St Patrick's Day. A few years later, it would incorporate under Wisconsin corporation laws, and later would receive a federal 501 C (4) as a charitable, social and cultural organization. The Shamrock Club would gain a foothold in the Irish community by sponsoring and chartering flights to Ireland. These trips were very popular, and there were often multiple trips to Ireland each year. When the chartered flights program started, there was little in the way of direct flights to Ireland, and those that existed were often prohibitively expensive. Changes in the federal laws would take the Shamrock Club out of the charter business, as more commercial airlines saw the growing interest in Ireland to be a viable money making option for them.〔(Emerald Reflections, March 2008 ) (pdf)〕 ==State chapters== As interest in the Irish in Wisconsin grew, various chapters came to life across Wisconsin. The current chapters include () the Shamrock Club of La Crosse, in Western Wisconsin; Darlington's () LaFayette County chapter; New London's () Shamrock Club of New Dublin; Dane County, () based in Madison; The Shamrock Club of Green Bay and NE Wisconsin (), in Green Bay; and the South Central Chapter, based in Baraboo and Portage. Some chapters have disappeared, including Twin Lakes, Fox Cities and Fond du Lac. The Rock County chapter disbanded in 2007, due to lack of new members. Statewide chapters hold monthly meetings, organize Saint Patrick's Day parades, hold various festivities, raise the flag over the State Capitol, as well as other Irish related activities. In New London club leprechauns change the towns name to New Dublin for St. Patrick's Day week. All of the chapters are involved in fund-raising and have donated thousands of dollars to numerous causes in the past four decades. Membership includes the printed version of the monthly publication.〔(Statewide Chapters of Shamrock Club of Wisconsin )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shamrock Club of Wisconsin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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