Austin Celtic Association
News & Events
2008 Election Biographies
HEATHER GILMER, PRESIDENT
Heather Gilmer started playing Irish fiddle in 1994,
moved to Austin in 1997, joined the ACA board as an At
Large member around 1999, and has been bringing a
performing traditional musician's perspective to the
ACA board and festival committee ever since. She
became vice president in the spring of 2002 and
president in the fall of 2002, taking a hiatus from
the board in 2004 but returning as president in 2006. She maintains the Texas Celtic
Music Network, a website with a Celtic events
calendar, band and venue listings, and a section of
Celtic web resources that is used worldwide.
Heather runs a weekly mailing list of Celtic music and
cultural events in Texas and surrounding states.
She also fields emailed questions for both the TCMN
and the ACA, acting as a resource for Celtic music and
dance statewide and sometimes beyond. She has helped
plan the Austin Celtic Festival since 2001; she was
assistant to the Entertainment Director in 2001, and
has been Stage Entertainment Coordinator since 2002.
She has been a member of various Celtic performing
ensembles and currently plays with the duo Gilmer and
Moore.
HEATHER SAGAR, SECTRETARY
Heather has been active in the Austin Celtic Festival and Association since she
moved down to TX from NJ a few years ago. A musician herself, she appreciates
the specific Celtic music community in Austin, as well as the larger Austin
music scene. She has served for the past two years as the chair of the music
selection committee for the ACF and is currently a board member at large for
the ACA.
LISA ALEXANDER, AT LARGE
In 1995, Lisa Alexander's classical singing career took an abrupt left turn when she was dragged to a house concert of
Celtic music. Since then she has become an avid amateur folklorist--specializing in Celtic music and its diaspora in North
America--with a collection of folk music books that numbers in the hundreds.
Lisa has helmed the monthly Celtic song session at Things Celtic for the past several years, taking over from longtime
ACA member Kenny Tweedy. In the last five years she has taken up dulcimer, tenor guitar, and octave mandolin and started
attending local tune sessions as well. She performs as a member of the Bastrop folk band The Pine Beetles.
Lisa has worked as a technical writer,
a software trainer, a project manager, a financial analyst, and a cost accountant for a real estate developer. She hopes
to bring to the board her experience as a writer and editor, her technical expertise, her musical
background, her financial background, and her willingness to do ANYTHING.
Her heritage: a Celtoid mutt (Irish on both sides--Dowling & Mahoney), 1/4 Scottish by hearsay (but that may just be
anecdotal), with a little bit of French Canadian thrown in (eh). Her grandfather was an Irish cop named Mahoney in San
Francisco. How stereotypical can you get?
PAMELA GARDNER, AT LARGE
Pamela Gardner has done various jobs for the Austin Celtic Festival such as Music Committee member and Animal Director, a position
she has held for the last three years.
She would like to join the board because she's been impressed with how well the event is organized and would like to be a
part of that awesome team!
Her heritage is Irish on the Dennie side, Scott on the Campbell side. Her maiden name is Campbell and her husband is a
descendant of clan McDonald.
TOM RIDPATH, AT LARGE
Tom Ridpath has been a resident of Williamson County for a
little over thirty years. He works as a microbiologist for the Texas
Department of State Health Services laboratory. Over the years he has been
involved with Cub and Boy Scouts, served in the U.S. Air Force and Texas
Army National Guard, was active in Lutheran Brotherhood Fraternal Branch and is
currently a member of the Fleur-de-Lis Chapter of the Texas Huguenot
Society.
He joined the Austin Celtic Association in 1999 and has been a member ever
since. He has served on the Board of Directors of the ACA for the last six years.
He has have served as Gates and Admissions Director for the Austin Celtic Festival the past two years which involved
implementation of admission procedures and training volunteers.
BALA DANE SILKENSON, AT LARGE
Bala Silkenson and his wife Amber have volunteered in the past, most prominently assisting the Facilities Director at the 2007
Austin Celtic Festival. This year he wanted to do more, and so this his first step toward getting more
involved and becoming part of the decision making surrounding some of the Celtic
events here in Austin. As part of volunteering he looks for opportunities to express
his opinion and be as helpful/hands-on as he can when it comes to decision making.
His current job (of 8 years) is of planning in nature, which would be a benefit for
decision making on the board.
What he hopes to bring to the board is new ideas. He thinks that is one of the greatest
benefits when members of groups change. He would like to offer fresh opinions on current
events that are planned and maybe bring up possibilities for new ones. He doesn't look
to rush in and try to "change everything", but rather to do what he can to enhance what
everyone has to offer. He enjoyed working with the current board members at the festival this past year
and feels that he could bring a compatible attitude into the mix.
His heritage
is kind of a mixed bag. To start, his first name Bala is Welsh and means "the outflow
of a lake". It is also the name of a town in North Wales. His middle name Dane, is well,
obviously Danish. His last name is Scandinavian and pretty unique. If you ever meet
another Silkenson, you can bet they are a relative of his. As far as actual heritage,
his father's side is 100% Scandinavian. His side of the family immigrated into South
Dakota where he still have a few relatives. His mother's side is not as simple. Her father
was a good bit French (Leblanc). But not long after they immigrated it was Americanized
to "White". His maternal grandmother is mostly Irish and English. He hasn't done much
genealogy on the English side, but he did find that her great-grandparents were Irish.
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