The Thistle Epistle - The Newsletter
Here is our most recent Thistle Epistle Newsletter. You can still download the PDF version with the link below and view the past newsletters in the archive. Check back regularly to stay up to date with the goings on of the St. Andrews Society. We look forward to hearing from you and your participation in upcoming events and meetings.
Current Issue
Download the PDF Version here: Thistle Epistle for September 2025
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Thistle Epistle: September 2025
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Highland GamesHopefully, many of you reading this were at the Games last month, and so know what a successful and enjoyable day it was for everyone. There was lots of activity in all areas: athletic competitions, children’s games that mirrored the full-size competitions, the highland dance competitions, heritage events, Celtic music, and, of course, the stirring music of the pipe bands.
This year for the first time we were able to offer genealogy and Gaelic presentations, which were a popular addition, as was the new food vendor, Kai’s Pies, who provided hungry Games-goers with delicious traditional pies and other Scottish fare. Then there was the cuteness quotient provided by animal babies, the Clydesdale foal, only nine weeks old, and the little highland calf along with its grown-up sibling. Both were busy taking in liquid nourishment from their mamas when this Thistle correspondent stopped by to admire them. Last year’s Games had low numbers in attendance, about a thousand fewer than for the previous two years. The forecast of triple digit temperatures probably put people off, even though actual temperatures were considerably lower. This year the forecast was fine, the actual temperature on Games day was pleasant, and the smoke held off - all of which resulted in attendance bouncing back to what we have come to expect as normal levels. We had 2,534 people through the gate, which does not include the 538 who participate in the Games as athletes, highland dancers, vendors, sponsors, volunteers, etc. What was encouraging was the number of younger people who came: 190 youth (aged 11-17) and 239 child (aged 5-10). Children aged under 5 get in free so do not show up in the count. Hopefully some of these younger folk will catch the Highland Games bug, and carry on to participate in the events and/or the organization. The athletic and highland dance competitions had busy days, with 62 athletes and 33 highland dancers competing. The program had an eye-catching cover, featuring sheep dog herding, which was echoed in the T-shirt design. All this year’s T-shirts sold out, as did the shirts remaining unsold after last year’s Games. Last year’s Games resulted in a financial loss. This year, hopefully the higher attendance and better T-shirt sales will have yielded a more satisfactory financial result. The next meeting of the Highland Games committee will be on September 17th at 6:00 pm. at the Valley Library located at 22 S Herald (opposite the Spokane Valley City Hall). The meeting will include a recap of this year’s Games. The Annual General Meeting of the Spokane Highland Games Association (SHGA) will be on October 15th. This meeting will include the election of officers. Up for election are Vice-Chair (currently Wendi Johnson) and Treasurer. John Blunt will continue as Chair. Kimberly Puckett was appointed by the Chair to fill the office of Treasurer following the resignation of Clint Hill, and is standing for election at the AGM. |
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2025 Annual Society PicnicThe Society picnic was held at Doug and Janet Malcolm’s house, on August 23rd. As usual it was a lot of fun for the 18 people who came. Two new members showed up, Pam and Tad Malmoe, which was great, although we were hoping more would come. Last year’s survey of the membership indicated a desire for more informal meetings of the membership, particularly involving children. This year we emphasized that the picnic was very informal, and that there would be plenty of games for the youngsters (of all ages!).
As always, we would like to thank Doug and Janet, who took a lot of trouble to put on a first-class event. Lynnea’s creative cookies were a big hit. She decided she would like to make a highland cow cookie for her Scottish collection but did not have a cookie cutter for it so her husband, Luke produced one on a 3D printer - problem solved. The result was a very cute highland coo cookie! |
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Fall Folk FestivalThe Festival will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and the Scottish Hour has been a part of it from the beginning. This year the Scottish Hour, featuring the Angus Scott Pipe Band, the Lake City Highland Dancers and the Spokane Scottish Country Dancers, will once again be part of this popular festival. The Spokane Fall Folk Festival will be held on November 8 and 9, with the Scottish Hour tentatively scheduled for 8 November, with time and location still to be provided. A full schedule will be available nearer the time of theFestival at spokanefolkfestival.org.
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2026 Burns NightPlanning for the Society’s annual Burns Night celebration is well under way. The event will again be held at the Mukogawa Commons. The date will be Saturday, January 24th, 2026. The evening will follow a similar format to previous years’ Burns Nights, with the doors open at 5:00 pm, the program starting at 6:00 pm, a sit-down dinner, a bar with a heavy emphasis on single-malt scotch - and a full slate of Scottish entertainment and social dancing.
The ticket prices will remain the same as last year:
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SAMSAt a recent meeting of Scottish American Military Society, Post 1955, Mark Loe was elected Post Commander He replaces Ed Wattawa who has held that position for several years and was instrumental in getting the Spokane SAMS Post up and running again after it lapsed dome years ago. Thanks to Ed for his distinguished service!
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Spokane Scottish Country DancersOne of our dancers will be attending the Fort Worden Workshop weekend in Port Townsend in October so we are learning or revisiting some of the dances that will be featured during the Friday night ceilidh and the Saturday ball. The Fort Worden Weekend is usually held at the fort itself, with accommodations in the former officers quarters, but this year the fort is undergoing renovations so dancers will be staying in hotels instead. While not as romantic as staying at the fort, it makes it easier to explore Port Townsend in downtime, though admittedly there is usually not a lot of that with all the dance workshops that are offered.
The dancers are also working on their program for the Fall Folk Festival, though it’s been a bit hard to get everyone together at this time of year as travel plans tend to take people far and wide. |
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Laura StuartThe Society is sad to hear of the passing of Laura Stuart, aged 93. John and Laura Stuart were very active in all aspects of Scottish culture in our region. In particular they were keen Scottish country dancers, and travelled the world attending country dance events. John was an officer of the Society. In recent years they volunteered at the Games and manned the administrative trailer where they took charge of the cash. Most times all went well. The only hiccup was one year when the Games Treasurer was somewhat perturbed to find she was short $5,000. The mystery was solved when John and Laura remembered they had stashed a bunch of money in the RV’s oven for safe-keeping!
John passed away just before last year’s Games. |
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Scottish PoliticsA quick look at what’s going on in Scottish politics.
John Swinney is still the First Minister, and the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP). Currently the SNP has 60 seats in the Scottish Parliament. Conservatives have 28, Labor 22, the Green party 7, and the rest 12. So the SNP is short of being the majority party. the next election for the Scottish Parliament will be on or before May 2026. In the UK Parliament the Scottish Labor Party holds 37 out of 57 Scottish seats, following a landslide in the 2024 UK elections. Swinney says that if the number of SNP members reaches a majority, that would be a trigger for a new referendum on independence from the UK. The 2014 referendum was supposed to be a “once in a generation” event. Swinney points out that by 2030 one million Scots will have reached voting age since the 2014 Referendum - so another generation is already here. The population in Scotland has just reached the 5.5 million milestone. However, support for the SNP is falling in the polls - although around 50% in the polls - from various parties - still would like independence. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the UK, believes that the SNP will not get the majority, and that Swinney is practicing “distractional politics”. He wants to get on with Scotland, providing benefits for its populace with efficient government. Starmer’s government is however not without its own problems. His Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner recently resigned, after admitting she failed to pay the proper taxes relating to a house purchase. She was a rising star in the Labor party, tipped to take over the top job. She left school at 16, without any qualifications, having just had her first child. Her resignation caused a reshuffle in Starmer’s Cabinet, in which the Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray was fired and replaced by Douglas Alexander. Alexander was Secretary of State for Scotland back in 2005-7, and left politics following losing his seat in 2015. |
Past Issues
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Thistle Epistle ArchiveAccess our archived newsletters here: Thistle Epistle Archive
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