Scottish News In Minnesota
Scottish News In Minnesota is an E-newsletter published on behalf of the Tartan Day Cooperative for the Scottish-American community in Minnesota & the Greater North Country.
Scottish Fair — Big Success!
by Norma R Macdonald
The weather was “a bit like Scotland”, which made our TCSC Taste of Scotland Tea Room products; shortbread, empire biscuits, lemon and strawberry tarts, Walkers Chocolate Cookies, scones, tea and coffee products “fly off the shelf”, so to speak. We also offered some new item’s this year, TCSC exclusive buttons (5 different kinds) created and donated by TCSC member Brian Jesness, with two of the button photograph’s donated by TCSC member Scott Moncrieff (Moncrieff Photography), Red Rose Tea in packs of 100, and Tartan Lanyards. It was hard to keep up with the crowds that extended out of our booth most of the day! Next year we will need even MORE volunteers to help in the Tea Room. The Family Tent hosted by the TCSC was also a very popular spot! We enjoyed “Mousy The Clown” (sponsored by the TCSC, MSCDA, and SAS) , and her balloon animals, for children of all ages, Scottish coloring books, and Scottish craft products. The children also participated in the “Wee Heavy Games”, in addition to the “Soccer Clinic” which was conducted by TCSC member Gordon Ferguson (Fergie’s Soccer Academy). Special “Thanks” goes to two special ladies, Deb Cygnar who coordinated the TCSC Taste of Scotland Tea Room with me, and without whom, the Tea Room would not be as well organized, or look at “beautiful” as it always does, and to Jennifer Peterson who coordinated the Family Tent activities. WELL DONE to both of you! Don’t forget to check out the pictures of the Fair on our web site www.twincitiesscottishclub.org. In addition, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our members, family, and friends, who volunteered yesterday in the Taste of Scotland Tea Room and the Children’s Tent. We could NOT have done it without you! South Dakota Celtic Faire & Games The second annual Northeast South Dakota Celtic Faire and Games to be held in Aberdeen, SD on September 19 and 20, 2009. This is a Saturday and Sunday with Saturday being the main activity day, and Sunday having a golf tournament, some vending and other sports (Irish Road Bowling Championship and Tug-o-War for example). The Scottish Heavy Games will be on Saturday. Our website is www.nesdcelticfaire.com .
Letter from Robin O’Neill:
The Northeast South Dakota Celtic Faire and Games planning committee would like to thank all who came to and helped with our first annual event. We had lots of help in advertising and “word of mouth” from many sources in the Twin Cities area, including the Minnesota Coalition of Scottish Clans and the SNIM. This help was extremely beneficial, and we are eternally grateful for it.
Entertainment was provided by the Irish Ceili band Barra, The Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band, Guthrie School of Scottish Dance, the ARCC cloggers (local) and Rince na Chroi Irish Dancers. There were piping, traditional Irish music, a jam session, Highland dancing and workshops, Irish soft and hard shoe dancing and workshops, clogging, medieval sword demonstrations, writing workshops,Scottish Heavy Games, kids’ activities, sheep herding demonstrations and Scottish livestock. The night was ended with a great Ceili with Barra and ceili caller Amy Wiberg. Clan Row consisted of representatives of Family Bruce, Clan Keith, Clan Donald with the Scottish American Society, Clan McMillan with the St. Andrews Society, Clan McBean, Clan Crawford, and Clan Stewart.
We are already in the planning stages for this year’s event. We have decided to move to two buildings and two days, September 19th and 20th. Sunday will consist of outdoor events only, such as a golf tournament, the Irish Road Bowling Championship and a few other non-Heavy Games types of sporting events. We hope to build this into a lasting and substantial event in our area. Please mark your calendars now for next fall and plan on coming out! Our website will be updated as we get new information and scheduling completed. We are also building a scrapbook page with a summary and pictures from 2008. You can see it at www.nesdcelticfaire.com . Thanks again, and we hope to see you there.
Robin O’Neill, President
Northeast South Dakota Celtic Faire Committee
Celtic Solstice in Bloomington MN
On June 18th, the Twin Cities Scottish Club will be participating in “A Celtic Solstice” sponsored by the City of Bloomington: The event is FREE, and will begin at 7:00 pm and run until 9pm. The location is the Normandale Lake Bandshell, 5901 West 84th Street, Bloomington, MN It is an absolutely beautiful site, overlooking Normandale Lake! This event is usually attended by 450 to 500 people. Bring your own lawn chairs or blankets to sit on! The featured band this year is ”Ring of Kerry”. The TCSC will have our ”Taste of Scotland” food booth at this event. The Hart School of Highland Dance will perform during the Band’s break, and Michael McCoy will be piping during the evening. Originally, the City of Bloomington was going to invite other food vendors, but because the program is starting at 7pm, they are only going to have us selling after dinner food and drinks (as of last week) -which means- WE NEED YOUR HELP! We plan on having pretty much the same food and drink that we did at the Scottish Fair (scones, shortbread, empire biscuits, tarts, Walker’s Choc. cookies, tea/coffee and LOTS of water!) Deb and I will be there in the early afternoon setting up the tables, etc…and we could use some help from 4pm to 10pm with setting up, breaking down the booth after the event, preparing our items for sale, and serving our guest! If you plan to attend the event and can volunteer any of your time, it would be much appreciated! Please contact Jennifer Peterson at jenip1971@hotmail.com or 763-473-9049 to let her know your availability for the evening to volunteer.
Highland Heartbeat
Wednesday, Sep 2 7:30p at State Theatre, Minneapolis, MN Opening with the emotive wails of the distinctive Scottish bagpipe, the music performed in Highland Heartbeat embodies the pride and passion of a country rich with history, offering a concert that spans genres and generations from traditional Scottish compositions like “Loch Lomond” and “Down in the Glen” to pop hits originally sung by Carly Sim
Curious about Scottish Country Dancing?The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Twin Cities Branch is
offering two great opportunities this summer to give it a try:
– 1 JUNE 2009: Bring A Friend Night, June Edition
Join us for a FREE evening of fun and easy Scottish country dances
that will give you a taste of what it’s all about.
– 15, 22, 29 JUNE 2009: 3-Week Mini-Course on Scottish Country Dancing Basics
Just $10 ($9 for members of Tapestry Folkdance Center, free for RSCDS
Twin Cities Branch Members) for all three weeks!
All events are on Mondays, 7:30 to 9:30pm at Tapestry Folkdance
Center, 3748 Minnehaha Ave S. in Minneapolis. No need to bring a
partner! Please wear clean soft-soled shoes and comfortable clothing.
For questions or to sign up for the 3-week class, send email to
info@rscds-twincities.org or call Lara at 612-874-8299
Scottish American Center and Heritage Resource
151 Silver Lake Road NW, Suite 13 (Lower Level), New Brighton MN 55112
The Center is staffed by volunteers on Wednesdays & Thursdays 6-8PM
Saturdays 1-4PM
Grand News! New Location! We are moving to a new location, and hope to be visited by YOU soon.
The Scottish American Center will be located at 3030 West River Parkway South, Minneapolis; just at the west end of the Lake Street Bridge. We will be spending part of the month of June making the move, and will have a Grand Opening sometime in the month of July. Stay tuned!!
Meanwhile, we STILL have need for folks to help volunteer for a time to help meet and greet. Call Tommy King (651-776-4316) to find out how and when you can help out at the SAC. Volunteer to take a shift now and then by calling Tom or email info@scottishamericancenter.org.
New Management: The Scottish American Center is under “new management”. The Board of Directors has elected Dr. J Scott McKechnie, FSA Scot, to the position of Chairman Emeritus. Scott will be available for advice and consultation, so he is not lost to the organization. The new and current Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of SAC is John McKeen. We also have some new members of the Operating Board and we are making a major effort to pump some new energy into the organization. If you would like to get involved, we welcome your interest. You can reach John at 651-228-0022.
Donors: Those of you that have contributed your time and financial support in the past have done a wonderful thing! And we wish to acknowledge your help! Soon you will be receiving a letter of appreciation. We are making a major effort to clarify donations that have come in over the past 12 months and will be contacting you soon! We continue to have a need for support to help finance the move to our new location! At this time, we have two anonymous donors that are willing to match any new donations, up to $500.00, will qualify. This is one Great way to help the SAC.
Volunteer at the RenFest for the SAC: We have a major fundraiser planned at the Renaissance Fair and need people to help staff a booth for the sale of Mead. People are asked to come for a half day, or a whole day, to help us at the Mead Booth. To get on the schedule, please call Phil Sutherland @ (651) 241-8026, or Stacey @ (612) 859-5119.
Volunteer at the Irish Fair for the SAC: We have a major outreach effort planned at the Irish Fair, scheduled for August 7, 8, and 9. We are getting the word out to all those Scots, especially those who think they are Irish, and we need your HELP. We need people to help staff a booth to greet the public. Come for a half day, or a whole day, to help us at the Marketplace Tent To get on the schedule, please call John McKeen @ (651) 228-0022, if not there, please, please leave a message.
www.scottishamericancenter.org Call (651) 636-1558.
