News

GAIF Does Its Part for Armed Forces

May 29, 2007

The Great American Irish Festival is taking the opportunity to give a little something back to those who are willing to give their all. All active service personnel from any branch of the United States armed forces, together with immediate families, will receive free admission to the 4th Annual Great American Irish Festival. The festival will be held on Friday, July 27, Saturday, July 28 and Sunday, July 29 at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds in Frankfort.
"All any active service personnel needs to do is show his or her military ID at the gate and they're in," said Festival Director Matthew Sullivan. "In view of what they do for us, it seems like little enough to do for them." In addition to free admission for the military, the GAIF will also host a booth for the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization whose mission is to raise public awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women. Finally, the Oneida County Sons of the American Legion will be selling Mercer's Wine Ice Cream at the Great American Irish Festival as a fundraiser for the next trip to Washington D.C. for the Oneida Co. WW II vets.
"We are proud of our men and women in the military," said Sullivan. "In fact, some of our committee members have immediate family in active service right now. We wanted to do what little we can to show our appreciation."
Of special interest to military personnel will be the appearance of high-energy festival favorites Rathkeltair, featuring the number one piper in the world, Neil Anderson, who only recently returned from his tour of duty is Iraq, where he spent a year training Iraqi police.

Visit the Wounded Warrior Project web site