Dear fellow Caledonians,

Here it is, October 1st and the forecast is for a balmy 105F – and summer ended a week ago ! Someone once told me “it’s cool to be hot”, but I am really ready to get my heavy-weight kilt out of the closet and put the Dri-Max one back in storage.

Thanks to all who joined us on our two big events in September – the 2nd Annual Pub Crawl and Celtic Heritage Day at Chase Field. We’ve been trying to provide fun and entertaining experiences for our members and friends to promote camaraderie. All of our activities are covered on Facebook within 24 hours, and we encourage you to submit your own photos to Jackie Carro for inclusion at: jc@marketingideals.com  You can read more about the Celtic Heritage Day experience below.

Back in August we held a fundraiser to benefit the Highland Dance area at next March’s 52nd Annual Glenmorangie™ Scottish Gathering & Highland Games. Thanks to those who participated as we’ve received a check from California Pizza Kitchen™ for $248.46. Please continue to frequent their restaurant at Dana Park (Val Vista/Hwy. 60 in Gilbert).

Circle Thursday October 8th and add it to your Smartphone calendar. Our Annual General Meeting will be held at one of the Valley’s great German restaurants, Haus Murphy’s. They’re located at 5739 W. Glendale Avenue in Glendale. This will be our 3rd ScotsToberfest event which was initiated a few years ago by Board Member Thom Von Hapsburg. Treasurer David McBee will share financial numbers for the year ended June 30th. And we’ll be initiating two new Board members with the official Order of the Quaich ceremony. Please let me know if you are going to attend: president@arizonascots.com

Finally, I’d also appreciate your feedback on the newsletter. If you’d like to provide a regular (or occasional) column, if you have news you think the members & friends would enjoy, or if you have suggestions on how to improve the newsletter, please let me know.

Hope to see you all at Haus Murphy’s on Thursday October 8th Regular time: 6:30 pm.

Auf Wiedersehen! DON

The Board recently unanimously voted to appoint two people to fill open positions for the balance of the current term, which will run through June 30th, 2016. In April of ’16 elections will take place for the July 2016 – June 2018 term.

      

Ian Warrander is appointed Vice President, while continuing as Membership Chairman. Vicki Phegley is appointed Board Secretary.

Greetings from St. Louis, Missouri.

I had a great trip to the Master's World Championship that were held September 25th and 26th in Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

Congratulations to Karyn Dallimore (center) and Denise Houseman (right) and for finishing 1st and 2nd!

I finished 4th (on left)

The weather was perfect with lows in the 50's and mid 70's for the high. There were 156 athletes registered, 15 different age classes, and 9 events that were contested over 2 days.

To put this in perspective, the Arizona Scottish Gathering and Highland Games (largest in AZ), had 131 athletes and 13 classes over 2 days. There were 34 States and 6 countries represented including 5 athletes from Arizona, who finished:

Derek Honeyman - Tucson - 8th overall -  Men's under 200#, 40-49 (shown below)

Ryan Seckman -  Mesa (now CO) - 6th overall - Men's uner 200#, 40-49 (shown at right)

Michelle Crownhart - Phoenix - 4th overall - Women's 50+

John Waugh - Lithfield Park - 3rd overall - Men's 65-69

Brent Abbott - Cave Creek - World Champion - Men's 50-54

My first day went fairly well. I managed three 3rd place finishes out of four events and led by 4 points at the end of the day. Saturday was tough with five events to contest in the span of 4 1/2 hours.

I received one 2nd and two 3rds but it wasn't enough to catch a very improved thrower, Kate Boeve, from Holland, Michigan.

I feel very blessed that I was able to complete the competition due to a severely sprained MCL in my right knee that I incurred three weeks before traveling to Missouri. I had to miss the Nationals held in California and almost finished all the events in Santa Fe NM the week prior to the World's.

I believe that by easing back into the games, I was able to compete at an acceptable level and not bring about any further injuries.

I can now focus on building upon the healing and strengthening of myself for the coming year.

I look forward to making the cut for next years MWC to be held at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village on August 19, 20 and 21 in Amherst, NY. 

John Waugh (shown at right)

Brent Abbott (shown below)

Many thanks to Above and Beyond Physical Therapy and Dave O'Toole for getting me back on my feet.

I could not have been able to make this trip without the backing of the Caledonian Society of Arizona CSA, Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society NACHS, and the Prescott Area Celtic Society PACS.

Thank you for your support that has been instrumental in allowing me to represent our culture and State that we are all proud of.

Famous Scots - Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Reason informed by emotion - expressed in beauty - elevated by earnestness - lightened by humour - that is the ideal that should guide all artists.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, architect, designer and artist, is an even more enigmatic figure today than when he was alive. While the astonishing modernity of his work has long ensured him a place of prominence among the pioneers of the Modern Movement, in recent years his promotion of symbolic decoration has been hailed as prophetically post-modern.

Mackintosh believed architecture was the supreme discipline, as it uniquely brought all the arts together. To understand his work, it must be seen as a complete unit rather than as individual components. His aim was to connect individuals with his work both functionally and spiritually. He believed this could be achieved through a series of carefully balancing opposites: modernity with tradition, the masculine with the feminine, light with dark and the sensual with the chaste. His work has a distinctive character, as a figure head of his time, caught in the difficult transition between the Victorian era and the Modern age.
These individualist features are no more apparent than in his design for the House for an Art Lover.

Glasgow is the best place in the world to view the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Detailed below are a few of the most popular local Mackintosh attractions.

• Glasgow School of Art - Charles Rennie Mackintosh's greatest architectural achievement 
• The Willow Tea Rooms - The original Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed Willow Tea Rooms 
• The Hill House - The finest of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's domestic creations, The Hill House dates from 1902  The Hunterian - The Hunterian is home to one of Scotland’s finest collections 
• Queen's Cross Church - Mackintosh Queen's Cross is one of Glasgow’s hidden architectural gems
• The Lighthouse - The Lighthouse is housed in the former Glasgow Herald building, the first public commission completed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh 
• Scotland Street School - Designed between 1903 and 1906 as Mackintosh’s last major commission in Glasgow

If you would like further and more detailed information on Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his life and his works please visit the Glasgow Mackintosh website.

October 31 - Halloween

The Christian Festival on All Hallows (Saints) Day on November 1 was deliberately set to coincide with the last day of the year in the old Celtic calendar of October 31.  It was celebrated by the Druids as “Samhain” from “Sain” meaning summer and “fuin” meaning ending and was regarded as a Feast of the Dead when they would sometimes return as evil spirits.    In Scotland they continued to practice their deep-rooted, ancient pagan rites well after the arrival of Christianity in the middle of the sixth century.  The Church fathers had become concerned that the popularity of non-Christian festivals was growing at the expense of Christian holy days.  Pope Gregory I, in 601 issued a decree to his missionaries about the faith and customs of the people whom he wanted to convert to Christianity.  Gregory knew that it would be impossible to eradicate the beliefs of the natives totally and so suggested to his priests that they “convert” them whenever possible.  Pope Boniface IV, in 609, declared May 13 All Saints’ Day. 

Unfortunately, while pagans were happy to add that Festival to their calendar, they were unwilling to give up their existing festival of the dead and continued to celebrate Samhain.  Intent on eliminating the ongoing power of the pagan beliefs, Pope Gregory III followed in the footsteps of the earlier Christian leaders and intentionally united the Christian All Saints’ Day to the festival of Samhain.  He moved All Saint’s Day to November 1 which became more commonly known as All Hallows and Samhain eventually became known as All Hallows’ Even or Hallowe’en.

Previous church leaders to Gregory III discouraged the Samhain tradition of wearing frightening costumes, but Gregory decided instead to allow people to dress up in honor of the saints.  Other traditions, such as begging for food and kindling, were made legal by the Church, providing that any food that was given to the beggars would be given to the poor, rather than to appease the spirits.

Scottish superstitions ran deeper and darker than most.  In fact, Scotland had been the only country to burn to death the supposed witches.  Effigies of witches were also burned on the Halloween bonfire.  Other pagan rituals have been perpetuated with traditions such as “dookin’ for apples”.  Of course, apples were sacred to the Druids.  Then there were “tattie bogles” (potato scarecrows) or “neep lanterns” (turnip lanterns) made by scooping out a turnip and cutting holes to create eyes, nose and mouth.  There is a long poem by Robert Burns on Hallowe’en which gives a good description of the traditions which were followed in his day.  And of course, the epic poem “Tam O’ Shanter” is all about “brownys and bogillis” and the witchcraft and superstition of those times.

But by the end of the 19th century Halloween had become very much a festival for children, dressing up in old clothes, or pretending to evil spirits and going “guising.”   The custom traces back to a time when it was thought that by disguising children in this way they would blend in with the spirits that went abroad that night and be safe.

Celtic Heritage Day Recap
by Don Finch

On Sunday September 13th the CSA joined with several other Celtic groups based in the Valley to attend the Diamondbacks vs. LA Dodgers baseball game at Chase Field.

The event was a fundraiser for the Irish Cultural Center, where we hold most of our monthly meetings.

The CSA table was manned by Michelle Crownhart, Carla Dunlap, Carolyn Gober (Daughters of Scotia) and several of our Board Members.

• Paid Tickets: 239
• Donation Amount: $701
• Draw entries: 76
• Desert Shamrock 200 (app.) were picked up

Feedback from Kristen Leetz, D-backs Group Sales: “The performance of the game group was a huge hit! Our Game Ops really enjoyed the diversity it brought to the overall experience. Being the first year, it’s better to keep things simple and build on it in the future. The key is to learn what draws people to the event. We thought the parade would be the big draw, but learned that it wasn’t. First year events start off slow because people are not used to it, but having over 200 people is great! That is the most we’ve had when trying to do a heritage night outside of the annual Hispanic Heritage Day (which started years ago as a small event).

Feedback from event organizer Ann Niemann, Desert Shamrock publisher: “There was great interest for the parade from many of the clans; firefighters; Irish Network Phx, and other groups, but didn't translate to ticket sales fast enough as the D-backs deadline kept being moved earlier. Once the parade was cancelled, a number of them didn't purchase tickets to come. Initial discussions included five performance locations but ended up with only the one on the field. The Right Field Deck cancellation led to lost ticket sales from those groups. Being moved out of the corridor minimized the amount of traffic by the displays plus those working the tables couldn't see the monitors.There wasn't an answer until the event itself to have performers by the display tables. The Highland dancers availed the opportunity but I felt badly that the Irish dancers did not get that chance. Having the music and dance definitely boosted the interest by passersby”.

Other feedback: • Attendees couldn't find us and the stadium staff didn't know where we were either when asked. • Several noted there were promo announcements for Hispanic Heritage Day, but no mention of the Celtic one actually happening. • The event schedule didn’t get to the general public as the Desert Shamrock was passed out only at the displays, which did not direct attendees to our location. • Kristen shared with Ann that the Game Ops Director said the pre-game performance was "the best performance they had ever had!"

The CSA Board thanks all our members and friends who did attend, and especially Ann Nieman who took quite a risk in promoting this first time event. Besides her volunteer hours, she personally covered $1575 in hard costs. Ann also points out, “a very important point to promote from the very beginning next year is that regardless if someone likes baseball or not, especially the latter, this is an opportunity to introduce Arizona's Celtic organizations to over 25,000+ D-backs fans who otherwise wouldn't know we exist”. Attendance this year was 30,000.

You can give your own feedback, whether to pursue for Year 2 and if so, how best to coordinate. Please email me at: president@arizonascots.com Ann and I thank you for your part in promoting the event through your circles and for helping to raise the $701!

It is not exactly true that you have to have grown up eating haggis – sheep’s offal cooked in a sheep’s stomach – to enjoy it. Not when it has been taken out of the sheep’s stomach (the major turnoff) and turned into a tiny layer cake with pureed turnips and mashed potatoes and given the hilariously over-the-top name of gateaux of haggis, neeps, and tatties with whisky butter sauce. I licked my plate.

Marian Burros, In Britain (1997)

A "Thank You" Note for Our Donation

The Society made a donation to our host location, the Irish Cultural Center, to help in acquiring badly needed equipment. We received this "thank you" note.

Be Sure to Visit While in Glasgow - House for An Art Lover

WHAT IS HOUSE FOR AN ART LOVER?


Set within the magnificent grounds of Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park and inspired by the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, House for an Art Lover combines art gallery and exhibition space, events venue, café, multipurpose artists studios and magnificent visitor attraction into one unique and inspiring venue.

Originally designed by Mackintosh as an elegant country retreat for a person of taste and culture, today, more than 110 years later, House for an Art Lover exists to stimulate public interest in art, design and architecture. Through its studios, exhibitions, scholarships and access to learning for all ages, it has widened Mackintosh’s original vision to make House for an Art lover a house for everyone. Bellahouston Park  10 Dumbreck Road  Glasgow  G41 5BW  Scotland