A Highland Fling

Posted on July 23, 2013 under Storytelling with 3 comments

It’s hard to bottle joy but when it is all around you, you can certainly feel it.  Despite an iffy weather forecast earlier in the week, Mother Nature pitched a perfect game for the 150^th running of The Antigonish Highland Games.  Participants and spectators enjoyed breathtakingly good weather.  They came from far and wide. They piped, they drummed, they danced, they ran, they tossed cabers and even tossed a few beers.  Maybe more than a few.  It was reported that the Saturday night beer tent had ticket presales of almost two thousand.

Staging an event like this is a huge logistical challenge.  Coordinating all the events and raising the required capital is one thing, but pulling them off with precision requires great determination and the cooperation of the weather.  This dawned on me as I stood in line for tickets to watch the heavy events and the tug o’ war.  Rain… no lineup.  A warm breeze and brilliant sunny skies; wait patiently for your turn to get a ticket.

But none of this would happen without the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of volunteers and this is the case at every festival in small and large communities across North America.  Like clockwork, you see the same faces year after year taking up their positions.  I perform one minor task as marshal of the 5 mile road race – some call me the pace bunny.  Most volunteers dedicate the entire weekend to the cause, and much time beforehand during the planning.  Unless I see Nick at the south end of the track prior to the race or Gail toting her camera, I know for certain that the race can’t be held.  The heavy events would seem lacking if Bunny, George and James weren’t there assisting the athletes.  I was a bit perturbed that they wouldn’t let me compete in the Farmer’s Walk.  One gentleman of great stature came out of the crowd unexpectedly and carried those two, 202 pound missiles down the track like he had been doing this all his life.

I could go on and on but you get the picture.

I’m sitting in the grandstands taking it all in.  I can see the fleet footed Highland dancers working their magic on the main stage.  Off in the distance the pipe bands are competing for the spoils of victory.  Great giants of men from all over the world are going toe to toe to in the Scottish Heavy Events.  And how about the tug o’ war being played out just a few feet away?  Is there anything more captivating than watching young, strong men and women straining every sinew, trying to drag their opponents across the line?  And off in the distance, young children play in the water park, oblivious to what is going on only a few feet away.  Ah, but their day will come.

And then there were the bike race, the golf tournament, the return of the track and field events, and concerts, ceilidhs and community dinners too numerous to list.  Did you experience the street fair, the grand parade and all the displays of art and culture?  There were cairns and clans, galleries and Gaelic, Masses and massed pipe bands, and the theatrical masterpiece “The Ships of 1801”.  And so much more.

Not only do the games preserve our heritage and culture, they are good for the economy and the soul.  A hundred thousand welcomes to all who come to share in our celebration.  And a toast to our ancestors and the people who keep their spirit alive.

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