Grandfather Mountain 1999

After talking with some others, I'm pretty sure of the year. If you think it's wrong please let me know. Also, feel free to use the comment section of these posts at any time. If it weren't for Sitemeter I wouldn't have any idea if anyone was looking at this most of the time. Just so you know, we've had over 5,000 hits from all over the world since the blogs conception. A lot of people will spot an image on Google and take a gander. A lot of them don't even use the same alphabet we do! Welcome, everyone!
Best friend Richard Halliley (twice President of US Clan Davidson) and I are about dead center in the above photograph.


Some kind of weird weather pattern invaded us that Sunday morning at the Parade Of Tartans. It was chilly, too. Grandfather Mountain, NC in July doesn't usually get weather like this although we have had some cold rains before. It's the elevation that kind of lifts us up out of the "Deep South" for July. We're half a mile up in MacRae Meadow; the peak of the mountain is a mile up. Supposedly the area attracted immigrant Scots and Scot-Irish to settle there because it reminded them of home. My ancestors (also from NC) hugged the coast. Even my MacMillan "Texas Bells" ended up outside of Galveston on the Gulf Of Mexico.
I'm pretty sure this is Stephanie Fox and Danny Potter. Stephanie is a nurse and always works the MacMedic tent at the games. I appreciate that she wears her Colquhoun scarf and takes time when she can to jump in the Parades with us!

Danny, who passed away a few years ago, was a bit of a legend at all the Mid Atlantic games. The Johnson City, TN native had been coming to GMHG since he was a lad when his parents first brought him. Danny parked a well used, small RV right at the place where the shuttle bus lets visitors out. It was known as Fort Potter. I primitive camped at Fort Potter in front of his RV the season before he died, something I told him for years I wanted to do, and have always been thankful I made the effort that year.

Drum Major Jim Thompson.





Color guard of a Scottish American Civil War reenactment group. I think it's a NY regiment.





In the middle is the extended family of T. Randolph Kirkpatrick. They always get their own tent each year and participate in athletics. One of his grandchildren has run The Bear the last several years. On the left is probably Whitfield County (GA) county commissioner Mike Cowan. Mike wears his Air Force jacket and beret with his kilt which looks really sharp. I'm on the right.

Grandfather Mountain Highland Games 2009

Special thanks to Beth Calhoun of Raleigh, NC for hosting the tent this year. Once again it looked marvelous!























Drum Major for Atlanta Pipes and Drums and the massed bands, Jim Thompson drops in for a chat with Society President Jim Kilpatrick, FSA (Scot).





I know that's Keets Taylor on the right. Hey! Who's that sitting on Jim's lap?







This has got to be Staci Ingram on the left who announced "The Colquhouns are here!" at the Torchlight Ceremony on Thursday night.


Beth and John.
Becky and Jim.

Corey Gilpatrick launches Colquhouns in the Northeast Blog

which you can visit here:

http://clancolquhounofthenortheast.blogspot.com/

Corey will keep you up to date with happenings in the Northeastern US.

Robert F. Colquhoun was Honorary Chieftain of 1992 Games

Robert F. Colquhoun was Honorary Chieftain of the 1992 Bonnie Brae Games in New Jersey. He sent me this at the time. Mr. Colquhoun wrote me an informative letter which I've reproduced earlier in this blog.

Lucy Calhoun Avery Birthday Notice (1998)

I've been looking for this for a while. This was sent to me in April, 1998. Lucy was one of the original ladies at the Savannah Colquhoun tent from the very beginning, and was the last of the original group to attend the festival a few years ago. Her granddaughter was gracious enough to take time off that weekend of the year and bring her to us for several years.


We think this is from 1994. Lucy is on the right. Adrienne Roberts in the center talking to Andy Calhoun. Can someone tell us who is on the left? We can't remember, but it looks like her name tag begins with "Marilyn".

Fort Ticonderoga Scottish Festival And Black Watch Memorial June, 20,2009

From Vicki and Sam Overstreet:

FORT TICONDEROGA SCOTTISH FESTIVAL AND BLACK WATCH MEMORIAL

Fort Ticonderoga, New York

June 20, 2009

Boy, are we ever late getting this report out. This has been a long, boring and wet summer. It seems like our lack of attendance at Scottish activities this year has drained us of our motivation. It’s time to get back in the groove and get moving again.

The Festival at Fort Ti was small but nice. It was their first year and we have to give them credit for attempting it, considering the economy. They had advertised band competition but apparently dropped it, perhaps when they saw what it would cost. It sure doesn’t come cheap.


We had helped them by furnishing local leads to clans and vendors. When we couldn’t get anyone to bring a MacFarlane tent, Sam borrowed the banner from MacFarlane’s New England Commissioner and set up his own tent while Vicki hosted the Colquhoun tent. Sam insisted that since there were several MacFarlane’s in the Black Watch at the battles of 1758 and 1759, they should be represented. Other clans were Dunbar, Hay, Donald and one other that we are embarrassed to say that we have forgotten their name. They were a young couple from New York City who had rented a car to come up to the Fort and this was their first time hosting a tent. There were also 3, maybe 4, Saint Andrew Society tents there. It was fairly quite so it gave us a chance to talk to Bill and Betty Wolf, of Clan Hay, whom we hadn’t seen for a while. Several reenactors stopped by to chat and Sam, who went to high school in Ticonderoga , was able to reminisce with some of the locals. Not many Colquhoun’s up in that area, but Justin Potter, of Crown Point , NY , (another famous battle site) stopped by. Thanks, Justin, for making Vicki’s day. There is a good chance that many of you didn’t realize that Potter is a sept of Colquhoun.

In September we are off to California for our son’s wedding. We arrive back in NY at midnight on Tuesday, Sept. 16th, which gives us Wednesday to pack up all of our gear so that we can head out to the New Hampshire Highland Games at Loon Mountain on Thursday to set up the tent. If you come by the tent and we are napping, please wake us up. We look forward to seeing many of you there.


For those of you in the Hartford , Conn. area, we would like to call your attention to the musical event called Pipes in the Valley on Sept. 26. In addition to massed bands, they will feature the Red Hot Chilli Pipers from Scotland , who will also be at the Loon Mt. Games the weekend before. Also Seven Nations, who were at Loon in ’07 and ’08; Gaelic Storm, who were in the movie ‘Titanic’; The Wicked Tinkers, from the West Coast, who were one of our favorites when we were doing the California Games circuit in the 1990’s and early 2000’s; and Mactalla Mor, a favorite at many New England Games. And best of all – it’s FREE! The website is http://www.pipesinthevalley.com/.

And this just in. Corey Gilpatrick, up in Maine , has launched a new blog called Colquhoun of the North East, http://clancolquhounofthenortheast.blogspot.com/. We wish you success with your new endeavor, Corey, and we will be checking in often.

Vicki and Sam Overstreet

New York/New England Representatives

Clan Colquhoun Society of the United Kingdom

US: http://www.colquhounclan.com/

UK : http://www.clancolquhounsociety.co.uk/

Annie Colquhoun McNaught

Annie Colquhoun McNaught is the grandmother of Darlene Parker who hosted our tent at the Greenville Scottish festival this year. Darlene writes:

"We continue to have many Colquhoun and McNaught relatives in Scotland, Canada, and the US. My grandparents immigrated from Glasgow (my grandfather) and from Larkhall (my grandmother) in the early 1920's. However they met each other at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit, Michigan and married in the US. My grandmother, Annie Colquhoun, was one of eight children, three of which remained in Scotland and never immigrated. We have lot of other info as well. My grandfather died in October, 1984. My grandmother died in April, 2000 at the age of 99 years."

Darlene shared the following correspondence with us between two law offices after Annie's sister died. It was a unique opportunity for her grandmother to write down a family history.