Irish sensation tunes up in Heppner
Published 2:28 pm Thursday, March 13, 2025
The Morrow County Courthouse dresses up in green, a tradition started by Les Paustian, a former Heppner city councilor and three-term mayor, for the Wee Bit o’ Ireland Celebration. The festival is March 13-16, 2025, in Heppner. (Janelle Healy Ellis/Contributed Photo)
Morrow County-based group Musically Unstable will play during Beer & Blarney and A Wee Bit o’ Wine on March 14, 2025, at the Willow Street Hub Innovation Hub, Heppner. (Musically Unstable/Contributed Photo)
Andy Cary and Emily Muller-Cary, of Pendleton, are core members of Whisky for Breakfast. They will perform March 15, 2025, during the Irish Coffee Hour & Ceili at the Heppner Elks Lodge. (Whisky for Breakfast/Contributed Photo)
The Blue Mountain Old Time Fiddlers will perform toe-tappin’ tunes on March 15, 2025, at St. Patrick’s Senior Center in Heppner as part of Wee Bit o’ Ireland. (Heppner Chamber of Commerce/Contributed Photo)
Ireland-based singer-songwriter Sina Theil will perform on March 15, 2025, at the Heppner Elks Lodge. The free show is part of the Wee Bit o’ Ireland Celebration. (Kate Nolan Photography/Contributed Photo)
St. Paddy’s festival features wee bit o’ free music
HEPPNER — The community of Heppner will shine a spotlight on its roots March 13-16 during the Wee Bit ‘o Ireland Celebration.
Madison Rosenbalm, the Heppner Chamber of Commerce’s events director, said nearly three dozen volunteers help with the festival. Also, many local clubs and organizations take advantage of the influx of people and host fundraising activities.
“It started in the 1980s when a group of people wanted to preserve the town’s Irish heritage,” Rosenbalm said about the celebration. “It’s nice to remember and honor why Heppner became Heppner.”
While food and fun are plentiful, one of the annual highlights features a variety of entertainers performing Irish music. Rosenbalm is excited about bringing “Irish sensation” Sina Theil to South Morrow County on Saturday, March 15, 6-8 p.m. at the Heppner Elks Lodge. Admission is free thanks to sponsorship by the Heppner Chamber of Commerce.
German-born Irish singer
Rosenbalm said she began searching for the Saturday night musical act shortly after last year’s festival. In addition to contacting Irish bars in the Pacific Northwest, she conducted a Google search for “Irish musicians.”
“She popped up as an up-and-coming Irish artist,” Rosenbalm said about Theil. “The funny thing is she’s German and moved to Ireland 10 years ago … she looks Irish with red hair and blue eyes.”
After reaching out to the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist, the stars aligned as she was making plans for her USA Spring Tour. Supported by Culture Ireland — a government-funded program that focuses on the international promotion of Irish arts — Theil’s tour began March 3 with four shows in Oklahoma. After five performances on the East Coast, she will head to Heppner. Her final tour stop is March 17 during the St. Patrick’s Day Concert in Danbury, North Carolina.
Come early for the show to enjoy an Irish buffet at 5 p.m. — and stay late as Morrow County’s Joe Lindsay takes the stage at 8 p.m. And linger even longer and wander down the road for the Wee Hours o’ the Morning Breakfast from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Willow Street Innovation Hub. The meal is free.
According to her biography, Theil was born in Germany and started playing piano and composing her first songs at age 7. Three years later, she moved with her family to Spain, where she played with a Spanish band, recorded her first demos and started strumming the guitar.
‘Home Is Where the Heart’
In 2015, after becoming dissatisfied while working in the finance industry, Theil sold her belongings, bought a one-way plane ticket to Dublin and embarked on a journey to find a greater purpose for her life. Six years later, she wrote the song, “Home Is Where the Heart Is.”
Theil said she set her sights on Ireland because of the “craic,” an Irish word for a fun vibe or good times. She busked on the streets of Dublin to pay for her studies at the BIMM Music Institute.
And her dedication paid off — Theil was named the Hottest Act in Irish Country Music during the Hot Country TV Awards show in 2019 and was recognized in 2022 as the Rising Star of the Year by the American Celtic Listener Supported Radio music awards.
“She’s doing very well in Ireland and is spreading her reach internationally to different festivals as well, Rosenbalm said. “She’s very talented — wear your dancing shoes.”
For more information, including links to the full schedule and registration forms, visit the chamber website at bit.ly/49PFsld or search Facebook via bit.ly/3FmMjZa. For questions, contact 541-676-5536 or heppnerchamber@gmail.com. Also, read another story about the Wee Bit o’ Ireland Celebration in Go! Eastern Oregon, in the Wednesday, March 12, East Oregonian.
——— Wee bit o’ music in Heppner ———
Friday, March 14
6-10 p.m., Musically Unstable during Beer & Blarney and A Wee Bit o’ Wine at The Hub, 188 W. Willow St..
Saturday, March 15
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Whisky for Breakfast during the Irish Coffee Hour & Ceili at the Heppner Elks Lodge, 142 N. Main St.
2-5 p.m., The Boarding House during an open house and grand opening of the South Morrow Art Center at The Hub, 188 W. Willow St.
2:30-5 p.m., Blue Mountain Old Time Fiddlers at St. Patrick’s Senior Center.
6-8 p.m., Sina Theil at the Heppner Elks Lodge, 142 N. Main St.
8 p.m., Joe Lindsay at the Heppner Elks Lodge, 142 N. Main St.
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[UPDATE, March 11]: The concert featuring Sina Theil is funded by the Heppner Chamber of Commerce. Admission is free.
Tammy Malgesini has worked as a community reporter/columnist for Carpenter Media Group-EO since 2006. She earned a psychology/sociology degree from George Fox College. In her spare time, Tammy enjoys spending time with her husband and two German shepherds.
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