Rep. Linda Dean Campbell posed with The McTeggart’s band at a St. Patrick’s Day luncheon in Methuen. (Courtesy photographs)
Haverhill and Methuen state Rep. Linda Dean Campbell got into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit a bit early this week, celebrating with a luncheon for local supporters.
Held last Sunday at Methuen’s Merrimack Valley Golf Course, Campbell’s “Celebration of Irish Culture and Music” served as the latest event in her re-election campaign.
On hand for the afternoon were the nationally-recognized McTeggart’s Irish Band, Colie Ryan from the Irish Cottage and Irish step dancers from Methuen’s Rita O’Shea School of Dancers.
Performers from the Rita O’Shea School of Dancers
More than 200 of Campbell’s constituents attended the annual event, which doubled as a benefit for Vietnam veterans. As she has done in previous years, Campbell made a donation to a local veterans charity, with Hoppy Curran’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Scholarship Fund being this year’s recipient.
“This year, because of the 50th anniversary of the Tet offensive, we thought it was a perfect fit,” Campbell said of her charity choice. In her speech Sunday, the politician praised those veterans in attendance that “simply answered the call to serve their country when many of wealth and privilege ran in the opposite direction.”
Campbell is currently serving her sixth term as representative for the 15th Essex District, which includes two-thirds of the city of Methuen and parts of Haverhill.