2013 "Echoes of Ireland" Fundraiser

Tim Tigue Memorial Celebration of Celtic Music and Dance!

We are happy to announce the first annual "Echoes of Ireland" Fundraiser in support of Ealain Ceime Irish Dance School and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS)!

Join us at King's Court Castle of Canterbury Village on Friday March 22nd at 6:30pm for dinner, music, drinks, and dancing! Live band and dance shows with a spectacular silent auction!

Order Tickets

Ticket purchases are handled online and paid via Paypal (or via your debit or credit card). We will mail you your tickets to the address you provide. You can buy individual tickets or reserve a table (8 seats).

If you cannot make it to our event, then we kindly ask that you consider making a donation online to support our cause. Any amount you can contribute will be greatly appreciated. We thank you in advance for your generosity.

• Buy Tickets (extended deadline: March 17th, 11:59pm)
• Donate Money Online

About This Fundraiser

Our purpose for this fundraiser is two-fold.

• Raise funds for Studio Noise-Reduction. Our Rochester Hills studio has high ceilings and hard surface walls, so when we have a big class or a bunch of students hard shoe dancing, the sound echoes, making it sometimes difficult to hear music or teacher instructions. There are a number of solutions to resolve this problem, but unfortunately, all of them tend to be expensive solutions, requiring $4000 to $6000. Our goal is to raise most, if not all, of the funds required to implement a working solution. It is a one-time expense that will benefit every student in the school for years to come.
• Raise funds for Studio Fire Recovery. On March 7th, one week before St. Patrick's Day (our busiest time of year), our studio in Rochester Hills was damaged from a chemical fire that started in another tenant's unit in our building complex. The chemical fire produced a significant amount of smoke damage throughout our entire studio. In addition, a water main broke after the fire was put out and gushed water for 30 minutes before the city was able to turn it off. To make matters worse, the water mixed with the chemicals that started the fire, and ultimately leaked into our studio, damaging our beautiful sprung wooden floor. The funds raised for us at this fundraiser will now go towards helping us get back on our feet in the short term. It seems that the insurance claim is going to take some time, and we will be incurring some additional unexpected expenses in the near term to correctly manage those issues. Your help can ensure classes continue without missing a beat heading into the Spring Term!
• Donate funds to the LLS. Our second goal is to donate a portion of the proceeds from this fundraiser to the LLS in the name of Tim Tigue, one of our "dance dads" who battled with Lymphoma. LLS is specifically focused on finding cures and better treatments for blood cancer patients, and supports hundreds of cancer scientists around the world. It takes about eight years to develop a successful new cancer drug, so the time to support new therapies is now.

Our fundraiser promises to be a fun night! Along with dinner, we'll have live music and entertainment from Finvarra's Wren, one of Michigan's premier Irish bands. We'll also have live performances from the Motor City Irish Dance Company, our school's performance-arm, as well as Championship Scottish Highland dancers. In addition, our guests will be able to learn and participate in group Ceili dancing, lead by our very own Irish dance instructors.

And if this wasn't enough, throughout the evening, we will also run a silent auction with some spectacular prizes - some valued as much as $600.00! You will definitely want to try to score on some of these at an amazing discount!

Promote This Event

Here's how you get the word out about this fundraiser.

• Print out this flyer and post it around your office, school, or favorite shops. Also, ask whether or not they would like to donate a prize to our silent auction.
• "Like" the Echoes of Ireland Facebook page. Then share the page on your newsfeed to all of your friends!
• Call a friend and invite them to join you at your table at a reduced rate!

Who was Tim Tigue?

Tim Tigue was one of the original "dance dads" in our school and probably one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. He was extremely supportive of his wife's and daughter's passion for Irish dance and often volunteered his time at various school events and activities. He even joined our Adult Beginner Irish dance class for a short time to inspire his children and to support his wife, who at that time, was still getting the hang of Irish dance herself. He was a regular face at the studio and well liked by everyone who knew him.

In February 2011, Tim was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma. Doctors started him on chemo and a directed treatment called Retuxin shortly after the diagnosis. And by August 2011, he was cancer free! But in July 2012, Tim was back in the hospital with hemophagocytic lymphohystiocytosis (HLH), a disease where white blood cells get confused and attack red blood cells instead of bacteria. The treatment required more chemo, and for about a month, everything was looking great! But unfortunately, in September, doctors discoverd multiple types of bacteria in Tim's blood. And with no immune system to fight them off due to all the chemo he underwent, Tim passed away on September 9th, surrounded by family and close friends. In typical "Tim-style", he was cracking jokes till the very end.

In honor of Tim, we ask everyone who reads this to find a reason to smile or bring happiness to someone in their life - just like Tim, who lived his life like this, even under the most difficult of life's circumstances.