On June 9th we held our first annual "Kilts on Ice" Curling Bonspiel at the new Coyote Curling Club in Tempe.  Approximately 40 members and friends came to participate or cheer on their favorite team.  The eventual winning team consisted of:

l.  John Clinkenbeard  2.  Mark Pelletier  3.  Mark Clark  4.  Alan Lewis and
 5. Shiva Tigadi   (no wonder they won—curling teams are only supposed to have 4 players!)

Unfortunately we had one injury—new member Vicki Munro showed us that curling can be a 'contact' sport!  Special thanks to our own ' Florence Nightingale", Geraldine Clark and to Richard Marsden for applying first aid. 

The Coyote Curing Club is willing to reduce their membership fee from $75 to $40 if 12 members join.  Please contact Mark Clark if you are interested.

Alexander

There were three kings of Scotland named Alexander in the 13th century and so the name became a popular personal name as well as a common surname.  The name is originally Greek and means "defender of man".  It was introduced to Scotland by Margaret, wife of Malcolm Crannmore, in the 11th century.  One of her sons bore the name and was the first of the three Scottish kings by this name. 

In Gaelic, the name is Alasdair and from it comes the surname MacAllister in all its spellings.  The name is also strongly associated with Clan Donald.  Some descendants of Alastair Mor (Alexander great, big or senior) went to Ayrshire where they were known as MacAlexander and some time later the "mac" was often dropped.  The name throughout the centuries has been prevalent in most areas of Scotland.

Cooper

In the usual spelling of the name, one would naturally assume that it applies to the occupation of cooper i.e. a barrel maker.  This was an important trade in times gone by.  In Scotland, however, there is a place name in Fifeshire known as Cupar, and the land name or toponym seems to be the originator of the surname in that part of Scotland.  However, it would be difficult to ascertain by spelling alone from where the name originated for any one family.  Spellings over the centuries varied and included Cooper, Cowper, Cupar, Couper etc.   The oldest record of the name deals with the land origin of the name, while the occupation refers to one Alanus Cuparis (the cooper) in 1329.  Clan MacDuff  claims the name Cooper as a name associated with the Clan and there is a Cooper tartan.   

John Clinkenbeard

I live in Scottsdale where I am a Business Leader and Entrepreneur.  I was born in Glasgow and raised in Edinburgh.  My clan is Hunter.

I joined the Society in 2012.  I wanted to meet up and share fun and community-based experiences with like-minded people from my home culture.

I am currently Membership Secretary.  My favorite memory of the Society was experiencing my first Highland Games.

Dan Miller

Dan was born in Washington, DC and lived in that area through college.  He is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the University of Baltimore Law School.  Dan worked for 25 years as a legislative analyst, lobbyist, and non-profit trade association executive in Washington, DC and Phoenix.  Then 15 years ago he made an abrupt turn and became an insurance agent, which he continues these days.

Dan was active in politics, especially in Washington, meeting lots of important people and enjoying that scene for a few years,  In Arizona he was chairman of ballot issues and candidate campaigns.

Dan is divorced from his first wife (we can always hope for the future) and lives in central Phoenix.  Dan likes to travel and has been to Scotland several times and it did not rain the entire time.

Dan has been a member of the Society for about three years and serves as Statutory Agent, which means he must sign a report once a year.  He has been practicing and expects to be ready by the end of the year.

Paul Bell

Paul R. Bell was born in Washington, D.C and was raised in Maryland.  Paul served in the U.S. Air Force for four years and went on after his enlistment to continue working as a Civil Service Employee as a firefighter for a total of 32 combined years of service as a firefighter, retiring in 2005 as a Fire Captain working at Luke A.F.B.

Paul has traced his family tree on both his mother's side (Clan Galbraith) and his father's side (Bell of the Borders) back to Scotland. 

Paul became a member of the Caledonian Society in 2010 and has worked as a volunteer during the annual Highland Games and Scottish Gathering for the past four years.  Last year Paul acted as the Assistant to the Games Chair and was asked to step into the Games Chair position for the 2015 Games.

A meeting was held on the 7th of June at the Irish Cultural Center to wrap up the 2014 Games and begin discussion of the 2015 Games.  Newly appointed Games Chairman Paul Bell chaired the meeting.  There were several members of the 2014 Games Committee present.  Each Committee member gave a brief synopsis of their views of what went on, both good and bad, during the Games in their area.  Some thoughts on how some issues can be resolved were discussed and notes were taken to look at making some changes in the planning for the 2015 Games.

Once the wrap up of the 2014 Games was complete the discussion turned to planning the 2015 Games.  There were several ideas suggested to add to the 2015 Games and there will be more discussion held at future meetings to evaluate those ideas.  We are looking to add displays and events to the Games to keep them growing.  We encourage any member who is interested in being part of the planning of the 2015 Games to contact the Games Chairperson or any of the Area Chairs if they would like to assist in a particular area.

If you go to the 'About Us' tag and click on the "Contact Us" dropdown and scroll down, there are links to the email addresses for the various Games areas. 

We are sad to report the death of long time member Penny McKinley who passed away on June 3. Penny and Bob McKinley were very active Caledonian Society members for many years. Bob was Games Chair and Penny served on many committees. We extend our deepest sympathy to her family and many friends.

The civic tradition of the Scottish Enlightenment contributed to the intellectual ferment of the American Revolution.  In 1740, the Glasgow philosopher Francis Hutcheson argued for a right of colonial resistance to tyranny.  Scotland's leading thinkers of the revolutionary age, David Hume and Adam Smith, opposed the use of force against the rebellious colonies.  According to the historian Arthur Herman: "Americans built their world around the principles of Adam Smith and Thomas Reid, of individual interest governed by common sense and a limited need for government. 

The influence of Ulster-Scots Presbyterians was heavily stamped on the American Declaration of Independence and in the unfolding events which led to the establishment of the United States as a nation.  The Scotch-Irish were generally ardent supporters of American Independence from Britain in the 1770s.  In Pennsylvania, Virginia, and most of the Carolinas, support for the revolution was "practically unanimous."  One Hessian officer said, "Call this war by whatever name you may, only call it not an American rebellion; it is nothing more or less than a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian rebellion."   Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, with its large Scotch-Irish population, was to make the first declaration for independence from Britain in the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775.

The historic Declaration of Independence contained sentiments closely identified with the aspirations of the immigrant stock from the north of Ireland that settled in the American colonies during the 18th century. A significant assertion was: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".

The 56 men from the 13 colonies who signed the Declaration were almost entirely of British family origin.  Thirty eight were firmly establish as being of English extraction, eight Irish (at least five of whom had direct Ulster family connections), five Welsh, four pure Scottish and one Swedish.

One account from Ulster writer the Rev W. F. Marshall records the far-seeing contribution of the Scots-Irish (Ulster-Scots) in the struggle for American independence, with General George Washington reportedly stating: "If defeated everywhere else, I will make my last stand for liberty among the Scotch-Irish of my native Virginia".