Our November meeting will be replaced by the St Andrews Social Evening. There will be a speaker, finger food and baby quiches, etc. for an after-dinner cocktail type of evening.  A chance to dress up if you like and get a jump on the holidays spirit of things.  (We are still behind those stores who are already into HalloThanksTurkeyChristmas sales... and more).  November 23rd is the date.

Upcoming is also the Tucson Highland Games and Christmas at the ICC.  A very special event if you have never seen it, is the RAF Cadet Memorial at the Mesa Cemetery on November 10. 

It is a meaningful ceremony for this corner of the world, a look back in time to a simpler yet dangerous time, and a special remembrance of young people that gave all they had.  And there will be old bird fly overs…. There will also be a tribute by the MCPB.

The Games planning meetings have begun and everyone’s input is needed.  We keep getting bigger and better.  Come see.

SLAINTE, DAVID

Scotland's Hidden Gems - Easdale Island
Iain Lundy

Once a year the remote Scottish west coast island of Easdale (population 59) comes alive with hundreds of visitors. The occasion is the World Stone Skimming Championship and the setting is wholly appropriate because, in years gone by, Easdale was at the center of Scotland’s lucrative slate industry.

After all what better use for an old piece of slate than skimming it across the ocean? Mind you the 350 or so competition entrants take it mighty seriously and their stones are precisely shaped and fashioned for maximum ‘skim’.

Easdale nowadays is a quiet place, accessible only by a ferry from the adjacent island of Seil (strictly speaking not an island since it is connected to the mainland by the Bridge Over the Atlantic). It lies in the Firth of Lorn, south-west of the town of Oban, and is not surprisingly known as one of the Slate Islands.

Easdale and the nearby islands produced around eight million slates a year in their heyday, the early to mid-1800s.  They were known as the Islands that Roofed the World and Easdale slate can still be found in cities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and elsewhere.

By the mid-1900s the quarries had died a death and In the 1960s Easdale was down to four residents. Now it has been regenerated and is the smallest permanently inhabited island in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. Visitors are encouraged and there is a restaurant and an island museum charting the industrial past when more than 500 people lived there.

The western edge of the island faces the windswept Atlantic. There is slate as far as the eye can see, and derelict old cottages where once the quarriers and their families lived. It is well worth a visit for a peek into a long-forgotten piece of Scotland’s industrial history.

To get there drive south from Oban, branch off on the B844 heading for Clachan Seil and the so-called Bridge Over the Atlantic. Drive to the west of Seil Island to the village of Ellenabeich and catch a ferry for the short crossing to Easdale.

As the Caledonian Society of Arizona is now in full swing preparing for the 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games, I would like to take this opportunity to remind our members of the need for volunteers. This includes the need for genealogy volunteers for the genealogy tent.

The Chief Genealogist for the Caledonian Society of Arizona is seeking experienced practicing genealogists to assist attendees of the 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games who visit the society’s official genealogy tent. The Caledonian Society of Arizona, a Scottish cultural organization, has incorporated a more significant genealogical element within its organization. The 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games will seek to follow up on the success of the last three years with the genealogy tent, with the Chief Genealogist on site and a wealth of resources, potentially including brief personalized consultations and access to online resources. Volunteers can provide a great assist in expanding interest in genealogy to the general public.

The Phoenix Scottish Games will be on Saturday and Sunday, March 7th and 8th, 2020 at Steele Indian School Park (Indian School Road & Central Avenue) in Phoenix. Help in setting up the tent displays on Friday, March 6th, would also be greatly appreciated. Volunteers will receive free all-day admission to the event for the entire day on the day the volunteer indicates availability; volunteers may volunteer for both days. Volunteers will be requested to work, at minimum, two x two-hour shifts, per day, with a minimum one hour break in between. Shifts will begin as early as 8am both days, and will end at 5pm on both days.

Naturally, volunteers will be expected to have basic genealogy knowledge overall, and specifically in U.S. research. Knowledge of research in Scottish, English, Irish and/or Canadian genealogy would be extremely beneficial. Volunteers should be outgoing with good inter-personal skills and service-oriented characteristics.  Volunteers should expect to stand for long periods, and be prepared for any kind of weather conditions.

Local area genealogy societies are invited to send along hundreds of copies of society informational and membership brochures for distribution, and should encourage members to participate in helping to expand interest in genealogy and local genealogy activities to the general public.

For more information about The Caledonian Society of Arizona, and the 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games, please visit  http://phoenixsocttishgames.com. To volunteer, or for more information about the genealogy tent, please contact Robert M. Wilbanks IV, C.S.A. Chief Genealogist, at   genealogy@arizonascots.com

As the Caledonian Society of Arizona is now in full swing preparing for the 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games, I would like to take this opportunity to remind our members of the need for volunteers. This includes the need for genealogy volunteers for the genealogy tent.

The Chief Genealogist for the Caledonian Society of Arizona is seeking experienced practicing genealogists to assist attendees of the 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games who visit the society’s official genealogy tent. The Caledonian Society of Arizona, a Scottish cultural organization, has incorporated a more significant genealogical element within its organization. The 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games will seek to follow up on the success of the last three years with the genealogy tent, with the Chief Genealogist on site and a wealth of resources, potentially including brief personalized consultations and access to online resources. Volunteers can provide a great assist in expanding interest in genealogy to the general public.

The Phoenix Scottish Games will be on Saturday and Sunday, March 7th and 8th, 2020 at Steele Indian School Park (Indian School Road & Central Avenue) in Phoenix. Help in setting up the tent displays on Friday, March 6th, would also be greatly appreciated. Volunteers will receive free all-day admission to the event for the entire day on the day the volunteer indicates availability; volunteers may volunteer for both days. Volunteers will be requested to work, at minimum, two x two-hour shifts, per day, with a minimum one hour break in between. Shifts will begin as early as 8am both days, and will end at 5pm on both days.

Naturally, volunteers will be expected to have basic genealogy knowledge overall, and specifically in U.S. research. Knowledge of research in Scottish, English, Irish and/or Canadian genealogy would be extremely beneficial. Volunteers should be outgoing with good inter-personal skills and service-oriented characteristics.  Volunteers should expect to stand for long periods, and be prepared for any kind of weather conditions.

Local area genealogy societies are invited to send along hundreds of copies of society informational and membership brochures for distribution, and should encourage members to participate in helping to expand interest in genealogy and local genealogy activities to the general public.

For more information about The Caledonian Society of Arizona, and the 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games, please visit  phoenixscottishgames.com. To volunteer, or for more information about the genealogy tent, please contact Robert M. Wilbanks IV, C.S.A. Chief Genealogist, at   genealogy@arizonascots.com

This is another of a series of articles in which I show you the basics of searching for your family history, discussing the use of family records, public records, and online resources nationally and internationally, etc. The previous articles are now available on the Genealogy Section of this website.   See “Genealogy” in the menu options at the top of the web page.

Vastly experienced pipe band member Michael Leone has agreed to serve as the Pipes and Drums Chairman for the 2020 Scottish Games in March.
Michael replaces Alastair Martin who has left the area, and said he was ‘very excited’ to be taking on the role.

He said, “I've been a piper for 43 years. An accomplished Grade 1 competitor, I was Pipe Sergeant for the Phoenix Pipe Band and for the Mesa Caledonian Band during those years. I also was a piping judge and an instructor for many years.

“My beautiful wife Christa and I have lived in Phoenix our entire lives and have three wonderful daughters. I’m new at the Chairman position, but I intend to make the Piping and Drumming contests at the 2020 Phoenix Scottish Games the best we've ever had.”

ScotsToberfest Report

The traditional ScotsToberfest event at Haus Murphy’s German restaurant was, as always, an excellent evening of good food and fun.

As well as the meal and drinks, the event served as the Society’s annual meeting. Society officers including President David McBee, past President Don Finch, and Games Chairman Paul Bell gave updates on the current state of the Society.

New members were introduced and formally ‘knighted’ by the President. They included Matt and Laurie Scott (L) and Theron and Lorna Proper (R). The whisky-filled quaich must have made joining seem worthwhile.

It’s been quite a year for archaeological finds all over Scotland, from city centers to ‘middle-of-nowhere’ rural locations. The latest, on the island of South Uist, is a little creepy to say the least – 3,500-year old mummies with very strange tales.

www.scotsman.com/heritage/the-creepy-find-of-the-south-uist-mummies-1-5024779

What’s the biggest tourist attraction in Scotland? Must be Nessie. He/She keeps popping up everywhere.

www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/news/nessie-sighting-knit-what-you-might-think-184639

COMING EVENTS and Highland Games in Arizona and Nearby