The History of Forever Green & Young Irish Fellowship Club– 1975 to 2005

The genesis of Forever Green was a St. Patrick’s Day Party held in 1975 by Tom Moore, who would eventually become the YIFC’s first Chairman of the Board. In March, Tom and his wife Kathy invited a circle of friends to their three flat at Belden and Cleveland in Lincoln Park to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The result was a mob scene of friends from the South-side, West-side and North-side all jammed into the basement. Kathy and Tom agreed they would rent a hall to throw their next St. Patrick’s Day party.

In 1976, along with State Senator John Cullerton and John O’Malley (then the in-house counsel for the Archdiocese of Chicago), the St. Patrick’s Day party moved to the Germania Club, located at the corner of Germania Place and Clark Street. They wrote and designed the invitation, which all three men signed and mailed to their friends. And with that, an institution was born with these words:

Dear Green One:
As every Winter becomes Spring,
with the passing of fear there comes the return of hope.
When St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland,
he gave the people great reason to celebrate.
That kind of joy transcends any one people,
or any particular place in time.
Join us for an Irish Celebration.

Join them they did; the party (at that time known as “Be Green”) drew about 2,000 people, and the Germania Club could barely hold the participants.

The next year, Tom sent out invitations for “Be Green Too,” which dispersed through the city like a chain letter, and Be Green Too quickly became the hottest ticket in town. The party was held in three different rooms covering two floors. There was a rock ‘n roll band in one room, a piano sing-a-long in another room and the Sullivan Brothers (who continued to play at Forever Green through the ‘90s) in the third room.

The place literally rocked. The idea of a party so raucous that the floor would shake was appealing to many, and tickets to Be Green III were harder to obtain than both of its predecessors. In 1979, the fourth party was coined “Fourever Green,” and the name stuck (later changed to Forever Green). In 1980, Tom hosted Forever Green V, the last party independent of the YIFC. That next year, Tom gave Forever Green to the Young Irish Fellowship Club.

The Young Irish Fellowship Club is Formed
The Young Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago was founded in early 1980, principally through the efforts of Terry and Roseann LeFevour. In the beginning, the Club was thought of as a means of exposing younger people to the Irish Fellowship Club (IFC). The YIFC was incorporated shortly after its founding.

Judge Arthur Dunne, a member of the Irish Fellowship Club, was elected as liaison between the IFC and the newly burgeoning YIFC. Judge Dunne guided the Club through the process necessary to establish itself and gain legitimacy.

In September 1980, the informal club met for the first time to elect officers. Mike Hogan was elected the Club’s first President. Tom Moore was elected the first Chairman of the Board. Next the Club needed a name. It was debated the name under which the Club would go by. One name that was well liked was ‘TGIF’, for The Grand Irish Fellowship Club, but there was some concern that people might think the Club was trying to say we were better than the IFC. The officers decided on naming the club the Young Irish Fellowship Club.

Another area of significant debate was whether the Club would require members to be of Irish descent. There was a lot of discussion about how, 100 to 150 years ago, our Irish relatives experienced prejudice in this country. It was decided that the Club did not want any part of that. The purpose of the Club was established and it was said that YIFC doesn’t care if you’re Irish, Polish, Jewish or anything else. If you want to support these purposes, you are welcome to join us.

The YIFC Gains Momentum
The LaFevours agree that Forever Green VI was the event that put the newly formed Club over the top. With the success of this event and its growing membership, the YIFC began organizing an onslaught of events including the White Sox outing (an event that went on until 1999 when the event was converted to Cubs/Sox outing today). It also began forming relationships with many bars and establishments. Word of the various YIFC events was sent to members on letter head that Hogan designed on a bar napkin. By the end of the first year, YIFC membership had swelled to 200 people.

With the influx of new YIFC members added to the established party-goers, the Germania Club was simply too small to accommodate Forever Green another year. The next year, the YIFC was able to move Forever Green into its new and permanent venue: Navy Pier. Back then, Navy Pier was not the Navy Pier that Chicago enjoys today. Nonetheless, the event sold out and YIFC had another successful year.

The attendance at Forever Green continued to grow. In 1986, the City of Chicago approached the YIFC asking for guidance as to how best manage an event at the site. Until the YIFC came along, no other organization had ever hosted a successful, large-scale event at the enormous pier.

YIFC Goes Charitable - YIFC and Old St. Pat’s Church
Once the YIFC became an established entity, it looked to expand its mission. Around this time, Father Jack Wall became pastor of Old St. Pat’s Church and was invited to a meeting. Father Wall suggested the Club move their operation over to the Church, the YIFC accepted, embarking on a rewarding relationship that still exists.

Initially, the YIFC’s charitable contributions were in kind; the Board of Directors painted the inside of Old St. Pat’s gymnasium, sanded the floor, and repainted the shamrock on the gym floor’s center—complete with DePaul’s Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Ray Meyer’s number from his days at St. Pat’s Academy. This gradually evolved from doing hard labor and assisting at mass, to organizing events and making financial donations.

Did you know that the World's Largest Block Party was originally an extension of Forever Green?

The biggest event organized for Old St. Pat’s by the YIFC was “The World’s Largest Block Party,” a Chicago tradition that lives on today. In 1985, Father Wall asked the Club to take our Forever Green Party and put it on the street outside St. Pat’s in the summer. YIFC gladly accepted and delivered 5,000 people that first year. This party is now wholly run by Old St. Pat’s.

As the Club became more established, YIFC began coordinating charitable contributions. Tom Doherty recalls, “We gave $1,500 to a start-up organization on the south side which helped deaf children. They were very gracious, the money snowballed and the organization became very successful. I spoke with the group the following year and the woman in charge declined the money. She told me that our donation had made a huge difference, had enabled their group to get of the ground, and she hoped we would take our offered donation and help another start-up group in the same way. It made me feel really good to see the positive effect we could make on Chicago’s charitable community.”

Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the Club established and maintained several other traditions that allowed it to donate proceeds to philanthropic causes. In addition to the annual Sox outing, the YIFC sponsored trips to Notre Dame’s Blue-Gold game, a Candlelight Bowl at the Diversey Bowl and a volleyball league—which it still sponsors today. Beginning in the late ‘80s, the YIFC hosted the Lisdoonvarna festival. People gathered at Butch McGuire’s and “Irish Heaven” was set up in the basement.

By 1991, the first year that Forever Green was moved from St. Patrick’s Day to the Friday before, the Club hosted the largest turnout in the history of Navy Pier—over 6,000 guests attended Forever Green XVII! With a membership base of over 2,000 and several other sold out Forever Green celebrations, the YIFC grew to be a premier organization in Chicago, all the while continuing its philanthropic endeavors.

The Young Irish Fellowship Club’s accomplishments and growing presence in the city as a philanthropic organization, social outlet and cultural promoter allowed the Club to make donations of tens of thousands of dollars every year. Corporations began to seek out the YIFC, wanting to sponsor Forever Green. In line with IRS regulations, the Club filed for Section 501(c)(3) in 1997, allowing all donations made to the club to become tax deductible.

YIFC in the New Millennium and Today
The Club has maintained several traditions including Cubs/Sox outing, the annual trip to Ireland for a 5-day pub crawl, and the volleyball league. In addition, many new traditions were established including an annual fall golf outing at Whittaker Woods, a summer boat cruise, and a New Years Eve party. The club has partnered once again with Old St. Patrick’s Church to help staff and organize the Old St. Pat’s World’s Largest Block Party and other cultural events at the Irish American Heritage Center, Gaelic Park, and Chicago’s Celtic Fest in Grant Park.

Through the continued success of Forever Green and social events, the YIFC has raised over $100,000 for various charities including Big Shoulders, Mercy Home, Bucks for Burn, Cystic Fibrosis, Make-a-Wish, High Sight, Dignity Diner, and many other children’s organizations, homeless shelters, and the Irish community. New charity partners include the Marilyn G. Rabb Foundation, Misericordia, and Gateway Green—this year’s beneficiaries of Forever Green XXX. Today, as in the past 25 years, the YIFC continues to raise awareness, volunteerism, and donation of funds to charities throughout Chicagoland.

In 2003, the YIFC successfully launched the “Emerald Membership Program” which provides Emerald members’ discounts at over 30 establishments around the city, including local bars, restaurants, hotels, theatres, retail stores, and more. Being an Emerald member also allows one to buy discounted tickets to Forever Green and other flagship YIFC events. The Emerald Membership program has allowed the YIFC to continue to run on a volunteer basis and has formed many new and beneficial relationships for the Club.

Additionally, the Club has entered the online era full force, with its comprehensive and interactive Web site, www.youngirish.com. All are welcome online to learn about becoming an Emerald Member, volunteer with the club, sign up for our monthly E-newsletter, purchase event tickets and Club merchandise, browse our sponsor and charity partners, and so much more.

Today, as the Club continues to evolve, grow and prosper, its mission remains the same as it did 25 years ago. The YIFC is a philanthropic, volunteer-based organization inviting people of all ethnic backgrounds to explore the Irish culture, meet new friends in the community, and help support Chicagoland charities.