Caledonian, St. Andrew, Scottish Societies, etc.

[Semiomniscient]

Our Caledonian Society uses "native born", "ancestry", "marriage", or "interest"--which used to be "adoption". But we changed that recently.
A number of very good pipers we have aren't Scottish at all. :-)

[Semiomniscient]

Be advised that the cost of putting on a quality, one day games isn't cheap, and if you are staring from scratch you should allow about two years prep for your first games. Also, be prepared to loose money the first two, maybe three, games you put on.

We really want to revive the games the we lost in Jackson, LA--except that we think having them in or very near Baton Rouge would make them more viable than an hour and a half out of town. While the little town of Jackson was great, it made getting the sponsorship dollars incredibly difficult from what I understand.

We tried teaming up with other similar societies to get something together... we had some differences and it doesn't appear to work out. I think the losing money thing bothered them... whereas a pan-Celtic event bothered some of us (me included). I'd be thrilled to run it at-cost and just break even. Our Society has even considered profits to go to some sort of charity if we're to do it.

I think though, that a games is something of a long-term goal. I'm of the mind that we need to build up our society a bit more and get more "doers" so that everything doesn't fall to only a few people.

I think that holding a mini-games in a local park for a few years would also drum up some interest. Just like a big picnic with Highland athletics demos, bagpipes, dancing, swordplay, etc.

[Jack Daw]

I'm a member of the Heather & Thistle Society (H&T) and the Houston Highland Games Association (HHGA). Currently, the H&T's sole purpose is to produce the annual Rabbie Burns Supper and the HHGA's responsibility it to produce the annual Houston Highland Games and Celtic Festival. At one time, both the games and the supper were the responsibility of the H&T, but it became difficult for them to handle both events, so the HHGA was spun off a few decades ago. The H&T and the Burns Supper continue to operate well despite a lower attendance; however, the games/festival is a much more difficult thing to organize and there have been pains over the years to get talented people to dedicate their time and efforts to a thankless enterprise. There is a lot of politicking that complicates the process as well. A few years ago, I was in charge of the Celtic dog exhibit, which was a fun thing to put together, but my business travel picked up considerably, so my participation in both the H&T and the HHGA was cut back significantly. Unlike the H&T, there has not been an effort to groom younger replacements for those that have aged to the point of retirement, so the HHGA is suffering this year.