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Longtime volunteers are now winners at Worlds

By
APRIL DREW,
IrishCentral.Com Staff Writer

Published Saturday, April 11, 2009, 12:26 PM
Updated Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 7:28 PM

 

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Ed and Kathy Hansbury from New Jersey

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Tonight is a special night for an Irish couple from New Jersey.

Ed and Kathy Hansbury, who are not Irish dancers nor Irish dance teachers, are this years Gradam Award Winners of the World Irish Dance Championships.

The Hansburys are volunteers at the Worlds and have been for the past 23 years. They are the people who make sure the successful dancers each get a piece of Tipperary crystal as a token of their success.

Ed and Kathy’s volunteering adventures began years ago in Florida.

Ed, who is a Tipperary crystal’s representative since 1989, was given the job of transporting all the championship trophies from New Jersey to Florida.

“We did so in a trailer and I said I would never do it again,” he said with a laugh.  

“That was our first adventure doing crystal awards for the dancing community and then it just spread all over, all the different regions have used Tipperary crystal,” he said.

This is the couple’s tenth World Championship. However, they have been supplying Tipperary crystal for awards such as the All-Irelands, mid-Atlantic region and many more for 23 years.

“This is my thing,” said Ed who hails from Dungarven, Co. Waterford. Kathy is from Claremorris, Co. Mayo and the couple now live in northwestern New Jersey.

“I don’t go to the bar, so I really enjoy all these competitions,” Ed said, adding proudly that he is a pioneer.

Speaking about having the Worlds right on their doorstep, Kathy said, “I think it’s wonderful and it’s nice to see, especially this capacity, the Worlds to move around a little bit. It makes everybody happier on this side of the Atlantic and the other side of the Atlantic. It’s nice. It adds to it, especially at this level.”

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