Irish Fest King and Queen of 2020 Announced

The Irish Fest Committee is proud to announce the 2020 winners of the Michael J. McHugh Memorial King & Queen Scholarship. The King award goes to Ethyn Tibble of Elwood; and the Queen award goes to Abigail Dudeck of Manhattan. Each student will receive a $1,000 scholarship toward the school of his/her choice. The Manhattan Irish Fest has awarded $31,000 in scholarships since 2004.

Abigail is a senior at Lincoln-Way West and the daughter of William and Laurie Dudeck of Manhattan. She plans on attending Lewis University and majoring in Nursing, with a minor in Spanish. She eventually wants to earn her Master's degree and become a Nurse Anesthetist.
Abigail is extremely active in activities and with volunteering both at West and in the local community. She is a member of the Poms team, Dance team and the Lacrosse team for the Warriors. She is a current Illinois State Scholar who tutors other students during her advisory hour. Over the past four years she has completed over 200 hours of community service working with the Manhattan Patriots cheerleaders and with the Lincoln-Way Area Lacrosse team. Her senior year, as a student in the Human and Anatomy program at West, she is currently observing nurses at St. Joseph’s Hospital two to three days a week as part of her high school curriculum.

Ethyn is a senior from Elwood who attends Joliet Central and is the son of Laci O’Connell and David Tibble. He intends to become a pilot and has been accepted to both Western Michigan University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona. Ethyn has been involved with many sports and volunteer activities as a Steelman. He played Football, Basketball and Volleyball his first two years, while concentrating on just Football and Volleyball his final two years. He ended the football season his senior year as the varsity quarterback. He has spent volunteer hours at school working with students with special needs and is one of the founding members of the school’s new spirit club, “The Fans of Steel.” Outside of school, he has volunteered with The Irish American Society Will County Celtic Fest.

The 26th Annual Manhattan Irish Fest will be held in downtown Manhattan on March 6th and March 7th.