19 May 2017

Hello all!

The Beltane Festival is OVER !!!  The day was beautiful, the crowd was pleasant, the pipe bands added to the festivity and everyone pretty much agreed - it sure was fun.

Thanks so much to all who helped.  We had some 40+ volunteers who pitched in to make the event a pleasant experience for all who attended.  Okay, admittedly, some were sort of “Sas’y volunteered,” some were a tad more willing, and some were downright “press ganged” but they worked very hard however they got their assignments. Our Sas’y Family gets things done. 

There is a nice article in this week’s Barberton Herald, with photos by Rich Muller.  The Herald can be viewed on line or picked up at various local stores if you don’t have a subscription.

A Beltane “wrap up” meeting will be held at 2:00 prior to our next meeting at the Akron Library.  Our regular meeting will begin at 3:00.  Jim Frost will present an informative display of Scottish highland village life in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  We will re-cap the past year’s events and have an open forum for discussion on future activities.  Be there with your suggestions, critique, and ideas. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Margaret Frost <margaretfrost63@gmail.com>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Sent: Fri, Apr 21, 2017 11:37 am
Subject: Sasy News

​

21^st April 2017

Hello all!

Our next meeting rapidly approaches.  May 7th - 3:00, Sas’y meeting at the Akron Library.  It is the  Annual McGonagall poetry contest & shortbread contest.  Bring a bad poem or be expected to create one on the spot.  As to the shortbread – bring your best effort.  No samples will be returned, they will all be included in the bake sale at the Beltane.

URGENT BUSINESS. CELTIC BELTANE FESTIVAL on May 13^th. 

We need items for our Beltane Basket Auction.  You can bring them to our house, or call and we will pick them up. Whatever works for you.

Ann Douglas Heflin is coordinating the Beltane Bake Sale.  She needs donations. She asks that you list the ingredients in your donation (if it’s home baked) either typed or printed by hand.  Purchased items also gladly received. If possible, please let her know what you may be bringing.  Email her at:  o4peetsak@aol.com. 

We will need strong arms to help with set-up and take down the day of the event.  Please let Alex Murray (alrisk@aol.com) or Brian McElhinney (brian@pocketfullofclover.com) know if you are available.

Scottish Country Dancing?  Christie Walsh is thinking of starting a Scottish Country Dance Class at the Northwest Family Recreation Center, 1730 Shatto Avenue 44313 - in Akron.  She needs at least 8-10 people who would like to come at least twice a month (time and day to be determined, but probably a Monday, Wednesday or Friday evening.)  For more information call 330-375-2849 or email Christie Walsh at akronscottishdancers@yahoo.com.  You may also reach Christie at:  330-867-1030 or (330)612-1845.

Cleveland Kiltie Band dance

Saturday, May 6, 2017

New Orleans Party Center, 8111 Brecksville Rd., Brecksville, Ohio.  For information contact:  Dorothea Kingsbury – 216.464.1116, Paul Lehman – 440.238.2991, Mike Slater – 216.761.9024

A group of us is planning to attend.  If you wish to sit with us, please let me know. If you need a copy of the ticket order sheet, email me at:  Margaretfrost63@gmail.com  [deadline for advance ticket price is April 29^th]

Scotland walking/music tours

Ed Pearlman has 3 walking/music tours to Scotland (Highlands/Skye, Outer Hebrides, Orkney/Shetland/Aberdeenshire), they all filled in October -- except that they were able to expand one of them, the tour to the Highlands and Skye, to 14 instead of 7 travelers, and they still have a few spaces left!

This includes visits by Gaelic singer Gillebride Macmilland and a chance to hear Neil Gow’s fiddle played privately for the group at Blair Castle.

They can take bookings until the end of April.  Interested folks can join the email list at www.edpearlman.net/scotland and he will get back to them with more info.  People on the list will also get info next fall about our trips for 2018. 

Refreshments:  Meetings are taken care of at the moment.  Ann Douglas Heflin is also coordinating the Beltane Bake Sale.  She will need donations for the 13^th of May.  Please let her know if you plan to bring a donation. The donation can be home baked or purchased.  You can contact Ann at:  330-773-3946.

Programs: Alex Murray is putting together the programs for next fall through spring 2018. If you are willing to give a program or make a suggestion on a topic, drop him an email at:  alrisk@AOL.com

Alex would like to remind you that membership in our group is free to anyone who wants to join, but donations help pay expenses and enable us to contribute to various Scottish related cultural entities. 

Please give anything you can to Dave Allison at any of the meetings or send your check to the Treasurer, Liz Belvin, at 3165 East Waterloo Rd. Akron, Ohio 44312

Clan Coordinator.  Bill Kennedy is now ourorganizer of clans for the Beltane. It’s a difficult job to do since many clan representatives are not easily reached. Bill will be glad to hear from anyone interested in attending the festival and representing their clan.  He can be reached at:  330-687-8804.

CALENDAR DATES - 2017

May 6^th – Cleveland Kitie Band 94^th Annual Highland Ball

May 7th - 3:00, meeting.  Annual McGonagall poetry contest & shortbread awards.

May 13^th – CELTIC BELTANE FESTIVAL

Columbia Woods Park, 4060 Columbia Woods Drive

Norton, Ohio 44203

Proceeds benefit Pegasus Therapeutic Equestrian Center, Hartville OH

June 11^th – 3:00, meeting. Jim Frost - presentation on Scottish Highland Village Life in the late 19th & early 20th centuries

Highland Dance - If you know someone interested in learning the art of Highland Dancing, call Christie Walsh.  Christie is a certified B.A.T.D. Dance instructor and heads the Tigh na Creige highland dance group.   All classes are taught at the Northwest Family Recreation Center1730 Shatto Ave, AkronOH 44313.  For more information on classes call 330-375-2849 or email Christie Walsh at akronscottishdancers@yahoo.com. For more information call Christie at:  330-867-1030 or (330)612-1845.

Scottish Gaelic and Singing -  If you are interested in learning,  contact Frances Acar at:  Frances.acar@gmail.com.  Frances is an excellent and patient instructor. She teaches classes via Skype and digital sound files which can be sent via e-mail directly to your home computer. 

Celtic Eagle Pipe Band - Our own award-winning Celtic Eagle Pipe Band has released its first CD, "Sticks & Drones".  The cost per CD is $15 for a regular CD (Band badge in color on the CD) or $25 for the limited Edition (Band Badge in Gold and Black on the CD).  There are only 300 of these Limited Edition CD's. Let Brian McElhinney (brian@pocketfullofclover.com) know if you are interested in purchasing one. 

 Radio Broadcast - Tune in at 6:06 pm every Sunday to "Sounds of Britain and Ireland" on WCPN, 90.3 FM, featuring Joe Nicholls and Kevin McGinty, two very charming gentlemen. They do a grand job of keeping folks informed about all area Celtic events, including, of course, those within the Scottish Community.  One HUGE THANK YOU to both of them for all their help with our Scottish Events. 

Spotlighted Clan:  Clan MacQuarrie 

Web Site:  We have several interesting areas on the web site.  Including one for the Tigh na Creige dancers, Travel Information, Charity Requests, Pipers, Books, Special Events, and Profiles.  Worth looking at, I think.

Suggestions welcome.  Our address is:  www.scottishamericansociety.org

 Akron Library - Indexing Volunteers Mary Plazo from the Special Collections area of the library, tells us they need Indexing Volunteers.  This task is vital to ongoing genealogical research at the library, and can be done from home.  If you have a computer and a bit of time now and then, perhaps you can help.

If you think you may be able to assist, please contact Cheri Goldner in Special Collections at 330-643-9030 or cgoldner@akronlibrary.org.

Slàinte!

 Maggie

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SCOTTISH SNIPPETS  (from various news sources)

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Six Year Old scores hole-in-one at Bruntsfield Links.

A six-year-old has become the youngest player to score a hole-in-one at Bruntsfield Links - and adhered to the tradition of buying a drink for his fellow members to mark the achievement.

Primary two pupil Jack Dunn holed the 134-yard par-three seventh at the Edinburgh course using his driver. "It was fantastic," he said. "Hopefully, I will have many more."

Club chief executive Dougie Cleeton added: "It is quite a talking point among our members."

He added: "Jack put the traditional bottle behind the bar - albeit Coke - for everyone to celebrate his success."

The youngster's father Jonathan - a Bruntsfield club member - and four-year-old brother Angus also play golf.

Bruntsfield, which dates back to 1761 and is the fourth oldest club in the world, has been an Open Championship qualifying course and is undergoing a £1m redevelopment later this year.

Planning permission has been granted for a major refurbishment of the Burrell collection museum in Glasgow.

The £66m project to upgrade the building and provide more display space also received listed building consent.  Funding was recently approved by the Glasgow City Council. The Heritage Lottery Fund has given £15m to the project and the UK government has also contributed £5m.

The Burrell collection has more than 8,000 artefacts, but fewer than a fifth of them have been on show at any one time. In April 2015, the council provided £5.7m to kick-start the building's revamp, which houses treasures donated to the city by collector Sir William Burrell in 1944.

When it re-opens to visitors in 2020, the basement of the Category A listed building will become part of the exhibition space, so that 90% of the objects can be viewed by the public. A dedicated space will also be created for special exhibitions and offices will be converted into galleries.

Maggie Keswick Jencks and Mary Slessor will be the first women commemorated in the Hall of Heroes at the National Wallace Monument in Stirling.

The Maggie's Centres co-founder and the Scottish missionary were chosen by a public vote, which originally intended to only pick one winner.

The monument was opened in 1869 and attracts over 100,000 visitors a year.

The first busts, of Robert Burns and Robert the Bruce, were installed in 1886.

The new sculptures of Maggie Keswick Jencks and Mary Slessor will join the gallery alongside the sixteen busts of famous men from Scotland's history.

The selection panel said the two women "emerged clearly" as frontrunners, resulting in the "momentous decision" for both to be commemorated.

Maggie Keswick Jencks designed the blueprint for the Maggie's Centres, which offer practical, emotional and social support for people diagnosed with cancer, their families and friends.

Aberdeen-born Mary Slessor, who was raised in Dundee, was a missionary in Calabar, Nigeria, living with tribes and learning their language, before becoming the first ever female magistrate in the British Empire.

A new book celebrates one of Britain's best-loved and at risk animals.

The Red Squirrel: A Future in the Forest.

The book features imagery by award-winning wildlife photographer Neil McIntyre.

He has spent the last 20 years documenting the lives of the red squirrels near his home in the Cairngorms National Park.

The Cairngorms and wider Highlands area provide reds with some of their best habitats. Elsewhere, populations of the squirrels have suffered due to habitat loss and competition for food from non-native grey squirrels. Greys also carry a disease deadly to reds.

The book was written by Polly Pullar and the cost of making it has been paid for through a crowdfunding campaign.  Its publisher, conservation photographer Peter Cairns, said he hoped the book would raise fresh awareness to the plight of reds.

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SCOTTISH HISTORY DATES

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April 21 1703 - Edinburgh Fire Brigade, one of the first in Scotland,formed.

April 21 1838 - John Muir, pioneering conservationist and founder of Yosemite National Park, born in Dunbar.

April 21 1926 - The future Queen Elizabeth II born.

April 22  1937 – BILL  HEFLIN BORN.  Happy 80^th, Bill…!!

April 22 1838 - The 703-ton Sirius, built in Leith and carrying 90 passengers, reached New York, the first ship to cross the Atlantic entirely under steam. Shortage of fuel resulted in spars and furniture being burned towards the end of the 18-day voyage. Brunel's steamship, Great Western, arrived a day later.

April 22 2005 - Sculptor and artist Sir Eduardo Paolozzi died. Born in Leith, he was a founder of the Independent Group, which is seen as a precursor to the '60s British pop art movement.

April 23 1124 - King Alexander I died at Stirling Castle, succeeded by David I.

April 23 1945 - Blackout restrictions lifted as World War II heads to a conclusion.

April 24 1558 - Mary, Queen of Scots, married French Dauphin, Francis Valois (he was aged 14) at Notre Dame in Paris.

April 24 1633 - Warrant issued by the Privy Council to Sir John Hepburn to raise a regiment of 1,200 men to fight in the French service. The corps ultimately became the First Regiment of Foot, The Royal Scots.

April 24 1825 - Novelist R M Ballantyne, who wrote 90 books, the best known of which was "The Coral Island," was born in Edinburgh.

April 24 1949 - Chocolate and sweets were no longer rationed, a measure introduced at the start of World War 2. However, demand was so great that it had to be re-introduced.

April 25 1058 - Malcolm III (Canmore) crowned.

April 26 1711 - Philosopher David Hume born.

April 26, 1965 – David Belvin born .  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE !!!

April 27 1296 - Scots defeated by Edward I at Battle of Dunbar.

April 28 1898 - Poet William Soutar born in Perth.

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SCOTTISH HUMOUR

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SUPER OBSERVATION

A boy was bagging groceries at a supermarket. One day the store installed a machine for squeezing fresh orange juice.
Intrigued, the young man asked if he could be allowed to work the machine, but his request was denied.

Said the store manager, "Sorry, kid, but baggers can't be juicers."

MARITAL COMPARISONS

Moira and her spouse were comparing notes the other day. "I have a higher IQ, did better on my SAT's, and make more money than you," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but when you step back and look at the big picture, I’m still ahead," the husband said.

She looked mystified. "How do you figure?"

"I married better," he replied.

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