http://www.geocities.com/clancolquhoun_na/home.html
Here is
Society President Jim Kilpatrick and his wife Becky at The Sycamore
Shoals Celtic Festival held in Elizabethton, TN each September. Our own
Danny Potter organized this festival before he died in 2003. Jim writes:
“You know that was the one Danny
Potter founded, and every year the Clan Colquhoun is a front runner in
the parade of tartans. Danny’s family has made it their annual get
together. They present a "Danny Potter Service Award" to someone each
year. (I received the first one) [in 2006]
Slainte,
Jim”
Thanks
to Burnie Cowan for representing us at the Salado (TX) Gathering of the
Clans the second weekend in November. A few years ago Burnie wrote us:
“Almost thirty years ago, I joined the
Clan Colquhoun of NA. A gentleman named Robert J. Calhoun of Upper
Darby, PA was the convener. When he stopped, a gentleman named Larry
Roberts of Savannah took over. At that time, I attended gatherings at
Salado, Houston, and Waco, TX. My brother was a piper. (I had no ear for
music so I participated in the Highland Games; Tossing the Caber,
Putting the Stone, Tossing the Sheaf, and Throwing the Hammer). I had
pretty good luck at the games and was Athlete of the Year at Salado and
Waco. My family and I operated the Clan tent at Salado.”
After
Burnie retired and moved back to central Texas in 2004 he found no one
was setting up for Colquhoun at Salado that year and he volunteered to
do it right then. He was able to take a space of another clan whose
convener had cancelled due to illness. Look for Burnie there again this
November 9th - 11th 2007.
It’s a
new year and Clan Colquhoun is eager to be represented at as many
festivals and Highland Games as possible! Generally, the festivals start
in the South as soon as Spring begins.
Floridians Chuck and Anne Stoodley like representing Clan Colquhoun at
the Northeast Florida Scottish Games & Festival near Jacksonville.
Chuck
also had the pleasure of presenting the “Immortal Memory” portion of his
Burns Club celebration this year.
Clan Colquhoun will be
Honored Clan at the Triad Highland Games near
Greensboro, NC this year:
The
Triad festival is the same weekend (May 4th) as the Savannah
Scottish Games, and the editor of this newsletter will miss that event
for the first time in many years since we’re needed at Triad. If you can
help us put up a tent at Savannah, please contact us. The 6th
Annual “Sgt. Rufus Calhoun Hodges Georgia Hussar Award” for Athlete of
the Day will be presented at this event. This award was begun after the
Sept. 11th attack in memory of the editor’s father. “R.C.”
was in this Savannah National Guard unit when Pearl Harbor was attacked.
They were immediately shipped out to New Guinea for the duration of
WWII. Each year a photograph from their deployment is selected to
backdrop a framed declaration of the award.
At the
Rhode Island Scottish Highland Festival Norman Bliss from Mystic, CT
mans the Colquhoun tent. This year these games will be held May 19th.
These
games are held at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Richmond. Norman
acquired a new banner last year:
“($30.00
from
http://bannersinvinyl.com/ with fast shipping, if anyone else is
looking for a nice banner).
I could use some tartan yardage for a tablecloth; know anyone who has
some lightweight material?”
We’ve
checked our resources from the Colquhoun HQ in GA, so if anyone knows,
please forward that to us.
That
same weekend (May 19th) a Colquhoun tent will be manned at
the Gatlinburg (TN) Scottish Festival by Cathy White and our president,
Jim Kilpatrick.
The
weekend of June 9th brings us to the Blairsville, GA games
where we were honored Clan last year. The Grandfather Mountain Games,
held the weekend of July 14th this year, are one of the
biggest and oldest in the Southeast. We’ll be at both of these.
Corey
Gilpatrick and his family usually sponsor two Colquhoun tents in New
England for us: depending on scheduling they may be at the Southern New
Hampshire festival at Silver Ranch, Route 124, Jaffrey, NH (across the
road from Kimball Farm) weekend of June 2nd:
http://www.snhscotcelt.org/
but
Corey will definitely be at the Maine Highland Games:
http://www.mainehighlandgames.org/
the
weekend of August 18th. Lois Seamon used to set up for us at
these games and thanks Corey and his family for taking over that job so
she can be a spectator and entertain her family at the festival.
[Steve & Liz Jones from
Goreham, ME; Lois’ husband & Lois; Lois’ brother Al and sister in law
Vivian Nichols from New Mexico at last years’ games]
Sharon
Curtiss is a new member in the Kansas City area who would like to meet
some other members. We currently don’t have a volunteer to set up for us
at these games the weekend of June 8th:
http://www.kcscottishgames.org/
If
you’re planning to attend the KC games, please contact us to welcome our
new member. We can put you in touch with Sharon and you can meet
somewhere on the field. Better yet if you would like to man a tent at
these games please contact us.
Mike
Cahoon used to live in the Atlanta area and help out with the Stone
Mountain festival each year. A while back Mike moved to Wyoming to be
near his parents. He now represents us at the Jackson Hole, WY games,
this year held the weekend of August 18th, and the Estes
Park, CO games held September 6th -9th in 2007.
Mike poses with members
of the El Jebel Shrine Pipe Band whose members wear the Colquhoun kilt!
We’re
planning on attending the Charleston, SC games the weekend of September
15th. The Colquhoun tent at this festival is very aptly
manned by Steve and Mary Hudson. We are also hoping to meet Susann
Disbro Gilbert who is working on a biography about her relative who was
a Silent Film star named…
Alice Calhoun.
Alice started her film
career in 1919 (possibly as early as 1918 in a role not credited) and
made her last film in 1934. Susann writes:
“Alice Beatrice Calhoun (nicknamed
"ABC") was born on November 24, 1900 in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of
Florence F. Payne and Joseph Chester Calhoun. She had one brother,
Joseph Jr., who was not only a practicing attorney in Cleveland, but
also a Danish and Norwegian consul.”
We’ve
searched the “Glendex” (the index written by Glen Ethier and eight
volunteers of the 4 volumes of Orval Calhoun’s
Our Calhoun Family) and
haven’t found an exact match for Alice’s ancestry there yet. If anyone
recognizes Alice’s parents names, please let us know.
Alice
was regarded among her peers as a professional. She was able to portray
a personality over the Silent Screen that exuded a charm that warmed her
audience to her. Letters sent to her active fan club were always
personally answered. In the 49 films she made, Alice often played
strong, successful characters. Some of the other professionals our
members may recognize that Alice worked with are Oliver Hardy
(“in two rare dramatic roles in
Little Wildcat and One Stolen Night”),
Rin Tin Tin, and
the great character actor Alan Hale, Sr. who looks very similar to his
son who played the Skipper on Gilligan’s Island. Alice had a savvy
indication of how the city of Los Angeles would grow and built a movie
theatre in 1925. Her Star is on Hollywood’s Walk Of
Fame and a plaque is outside the Alice Calhoun Chotiner Wing of the Los
Angeles City of Hope biomedical research, treatment and educational
institution that her husband financed in her honor. Alice died June 3,
1966 and rests at the Little Garden of Faithfulness at Forest Lawn
Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Thanks to Susann Disbro Gilbert
for this information and photos. Her website is:
http://www.alicecalhoun.net/welcome.html
