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Fergus Highland Games, Ontario, Canada in 2005
Clan Tents (2)



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.


Return to Fergus Games Index Page


 


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