John Shine will serve as this year’s Grand Leprechaun and Maci Dillavou as the Wee Leprechaun.
Shine is the son of John and Laura Shine. He grew up in Adel. All four of his grandparents were born in County Cork, Ireland. The Verlings, on his mother’s side, came over around the turn of the century. His dad’s uncle, Jack McCarthy, came around 1900 and was a sheepman in the Warner Valley. In the 1940s, McCarthy returned to Ireland and lived with Shine’s father and talked all the time about Lake County. Shine’s father then moved to Lake County in 1948, two years after his older brother.
His grandfather on his mother’s side, Francis Kavanaugh Verling, established the KV Bar Ranch outside Lakeview with Shine’s great uncle. Francis Verling was one of 22 children who all had the same middle name — Kavanaugh — which Shine said is a family name from somewhere back in Ireland. The “KV” in KV Bar Ranch stands for Kavanaugh Verling. The KV Bar Ranch was sold in the 1940s to Clark and Johnson — the latter being the uncle of longtime Lakeview resident Chuck Kelley.
When Shine’s great uncle Jack died, he left the ranch in Adel to Shine’s father and cousin Pat McCarthy. His father eventually bought Pat McCarthy out. Shine and his siblings grew up there. His brother George now runs the ranch.
When Shine graduated high school he went to college at Oregon State and then went to work for Ralston Purina for seven years where he learned the dog food business. From there, he and a partner started their own business — Animal Supply Company. After running that company for about 30 years, Shine sold it to a private equity group.
He planned to retire but then decided he was bored, so he and his wife, Teresa, moved back to Lakeview and bought the KV Bar Ranch from Chuck Kelley, bringing it back into the family after 60 years. Along with the ranch came Junipers Reservoir RV Resort, which was started by Chuck and Treva Kelley; the Shines have been operating Junipers since they purchased the KV Bar in 2014. They have four children — Katie, Kelley, Patrick and Molly.
Maci Dillavou was randomly selected as the 2023 Wee Leprechaun. Her parents are Travis Dillavou and Kaitlin Shuffield. Maci has two sisters and three brothers, including two twin brothers who were just born this month.
She is five years old and attends pre-school, where she likes to “do art, play with my friends, and share.” When she isn’t in school, Maci said she likes to “hang out and watch TV” or ride her horses, Sylvia and Kitty.
Asked how she felt when she found out she’d been chosen as the Wee Leprechaun, Maci said “happy.” She has a few ideas for what she’d like to do when she’s older, including working as a nail technician, a hair stylist, a veterinarian and doing babysitting.
Shine and Dillavou will be honored at the Irish Days Dinner this Saint Patrick’s Day — Friday, March 17 — at the Lakeview Elks Lodge. They will also ride together in the Irish Days Parade this Saturday, March 18, starting at 11 a.m.
Grand Leprechauns:
1986: Tom Jones (Julia Singleton fell and broke her hip, thus Tom was named.)
1987: Paddy Hallinan
1988: Mike and May Guiney
1989: Bob Barry
1990: John Shine
1991: Pat McCarthy
1992: Dan Collins
1993: Father Austin Cribbin
1994: Phil Lane
1995: Bridie Kiely
1996: Nora McAuliffe
1997: Mike Collins
1998: Dave Murphy
1999: Tom Sullivan
2000: Breda Flynn
2001: Ann Murphy
2002: John Cremin
2003: Hannah Cremin
Beginning of first generation Irish born in America
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