National Tartan Day

Please take a few minutes to look at the  National Tartan Day Petition, and consider signing the petition.  You will be supporting a grassroots movement to get Tartan Day added to the official USA national calendar, and at the same time have the National Tartan Day Proclamation made in perpetuity.

Slainte,
Dianne

Scottish Drum Majors (and others) On Parade

Photos from the Scottish Drum Major workshops held in Orange, CT, April 2009.
Thanks to Drum Majors Billy Jordan, Kenny Forbes and Andy Grant for sharing their expertise with us. They had an action-packed ten days here in the USA and I'll bet they are glad to be back home in Scotland.

Slainte,
Dianne

Dinner With Isla St. Clair

Isla St. Clair and Friends

Dianne Bergstedt and Isla St. Clair

John Smith, Isla St. Clair, Patrick King

OK, so it wasn't actually dinner, it was pints and pub grub. Whatever. Isla was in Connecticut to perform in Wethersfield and a group of us got together after at a local pub. She is as gracious in person as she is when performing. Oh, and she just happens to be a spectacular singer.

Here is a link to Isla's website.

Wikipedia entry for Isla St. Clair.

Patrick King is a fine movie director. I can say this because I have absolutely loved several of his documentaries, and I'll bet you have too. Do any of these titles sound familiar to you?

Ladies FromHell
Call To The Blood
When The Pipers Play
Pipers On Parade
Battle Lines: Recollections In Kilt and Khaki
Highland Laddie: Story of the Scottish Soldier

Right, that's a few examples of Patrick's work. Between the two of them, Isla and Patrick have amassed an impressive body of work in the entertainment and documentary film world.

They will be back to the states later in the year. I'll post the performance schedule so that you will know where and when to catch the concerts.

Next post will be more about those Scottish Drum Major workshops we had in Connecticut the past two weekends. I've finally gotten all the photos edited (there were almost 400) and now I am just figuring out the best way to upload them on to the blog.

Slainte.
Dianne

Scottish New Mexico

Courtesy of our New Mexico Tartan Day Laird, H. William Hart, we have a link to their annual Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival Highland Games. This will be the 21st year of the Games. It looks like a grand time. If you are in the area on May 16-17, buy some tickets and enjoy the festival!

Also of interest is the local New Mexico rugby team. Go Lobos!

Thanks, Harry!

Slainte,
Dianne

Scottish Drum Major Workshop

Drum Majors (left to right) Kenny Forbes, Billy Jordan, Andy Grant, from Scotland

Drum Majors Tom Belyea and Charles Kaba

Drum Major Workshop Class Photo April 18, 2009

This past weekend was the first of two Drum Major Workshops to be held in Orange, CT. Instructors from Scotland were Billy Jordan, Champion of Champions and Drum Major with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and the Dumbarton and District Pipe Band, Kenny Forbes, Drum Major for theVale of Atholl Pipe Band (Grade 1) and a Senior Drum Major of the Royal British Legion (Scotland), and Andy Grant, Drum Major for the Denny & Dunipace Pipe Band. We had good weather and a good turnout for the seminars, and a great time at dinner as a prelude to the pub crawl; due to my advanced age and general decrepitude I declined the crawl and went home after dinner.

These workshops are given by the Drum Major Billy Jordan School of Drum Majors and presented by the Regimental Services Group.

However, I'm packed and ready to hit the road for more adventures with the Drum Majors this weekend. There is a military "Dining Out" curry dinner (to benefit the British Army Benevolent Fund America) that I do not want to miss! I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

FMI on Scottish Drum Majors visit the Regimental Drum Major Association online.

Slainte,
Dianne

Tartan Day and a Fake Haggis in Minnesota

Denise Schlaeger in Minnesota celebrated Tartan Day with a fake haggis of her own design. Seems that the venue selected for their Tartan Day observance did not allow food to be brought in, so Denise, being a very capable and ingenious Scot, devised her own haggis.

Brilliant!

Slainte,
Dianne

Tartan Day in Florida

Tartan Day Proclamation at Venice, Florida, City Hall

Barbra Bartz from the St. Andrew Society of Sarasota, and Pauline Mitchell from the Caledonian Club of Florida/West.

From Barbra Bartz in Florida:
Dame Barbra A. Bartz, FSA Scot, and Jim Martin, members of the St. Andrew Society of Sarasota, gave a Tartan Day informational talk to Mrs. Janet Ross' 5th grade class at the Tabernacle Christian School in Sarasota, Florida. Mrs. Bartz brought resource books for the children to check and see if their last names were Scottish, and if so did they have a Clan and a Tartan. Mr. Martin, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, told the children about his life growing up there. Mrs. Bartz told the class about her ancestors coming from Scotland to the American Colonies in 1769. Each child received a Certificate of Adoption into the Clan Ross of the USA, Inc. and an official Clan Ross crest stamped on their right hand in red ink. In addition, Walker's shortbread cookies were donated by Mrs. Sheila Jackson of Scots Corner. The history of Tartan Day was discussed and there was a display of different tartans and pictures of men wearing them. The children had many questions regarding everything Scottish. Scots Wha Hae!!!




My thanks to Barbra for sharing this with us. Well done!
If any of you want to share photos of your Scottish events, send them along in an email and I'll post them.

Slainte, Dianne