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And that was my quick tour around the clan
tents so I headed out to have a chat with a few folk and here is Neil
Fraser chatting with John Campbell who is the long time organisor of
this Clan Village at Fergus. This is his final year in this role
although he will still be doing things at the games in future years
And here are John Campbell and Neil Fraser
giving me a pose and my friend, Rory Sinclair of Clan Sinclair which some of you might
remember did that Clan Sinclair event in Toronto when their chief was
over.
Chief of Clan MacMillan was posing for
pictures and chatting with his clan folk
The first is a pose with the John MacMillan
family posing with their Clan Chief. On the right are my MacIntyre clan
members (Wrights) that were looking after the tent
On the left is Madam Pauline Hunter of
Hunterston, chief of the Clan Hunter and on the right out Campbell folk
and a board member of the Scottish Studies Foundation
Some neat wee dolls on sale and Diana
Gabaldon tent. She was giving talks at the event and doing book
signings. Quite a crowd lined up patiently waiting to get there
books signed :-)
Clan MacLellan showing off their tapestry
which I actually saw at the Georgetown Highland Games last year. They
also had a neat wee display
They also had other wee ornaments on display
and here is a family that just purchased one of them and the wee lass is
posing with it along with her family
Clan MacLachlan making sure I knew their web
site addresses and a great shot of the Clan Fergusson folk :-)
And here are the Clan MacKenzie folk
Here is Tricia who you might remember guided
me around the Scottish Studies Dept. and the University of Guelph last
year. She has just obtained her doctorate so well done Tricia!
Also a topographical map of part of Scotland.
And House of Gordon were also ensuring I had
a note of their web site. On the right a young Clan Rattray member
And here we see more interesting folk in the
Clan village
And you can us Scots do enjoy our fries :-)
And here is Bob MacIntyre on the left and
I'm afraid I've forgotten the name of our other clan member but they are
Wrights but just can't remember their first names. I was asked to
do the draw for the wee raffle that the clan ran and here is Bob holding
the prize.
And here is me posing with my clan... now
don't I look like a paparazzi?
On the left is the Chieftan of the Clan
Scott Society and on the right is Diana Gabaldon signing a book
And a few shots of the Highland Dancing as I headed out of the
games
And the final shot of the owner of the
Scottish Banner, Val Cairney.
This completes my photo
shoot of the games and so what were my overall impressions?
As you will know I was
quite scathing about the executive director and I certainly don't take
anything back on that front. I mainly wanted to visit the games for the
Clan Village and I very much enjoyed my time with with them.
Should you be looking to learn about your clan this must be the very
best games to attend in Canada and they did an excellent job of having a
large genealogy tent for those whose clan didn't attend the event.
There were the usual pipe
bands, heavy athletic events, Highland dancing and loads of vendors. The
parade ground was surrounded by stands so if you weren't lucky enough to
get a seat then tough.. you won't have seen very much of the opening
ceremony. I think this is the single largest problem that big
Highland games events have is making things available to the general
public.
The cost of an adult
ticket was $20.00 so I would guess this event is a touch expensive for
ordinary families and then there is the $5 parking fee. While there were
lots of vendors and wide range of food stalls all of this adds up to
quite an expense for a family outing.
Security was there but
not much in evidence and certainly there was a much friendlier
atmosphere at this games. I met John Campbell who apologized for
the way I'd been treated prior to the games but as I said this wasn't
his fault and not to worry about it :-)
Overall I'd highly
recommend a visit to this event. |
