The President
Message
To all you Lads and Lassies,
What a wonderful 250th anniversary
of the Bard’s birth! Our annual Burns’ Nicht Dinner will long be
remembered by the more than one hundred members and guests who
attended. President Howard led us into the procession to the dinner
with the Williamsburg Pipes and Drums followed by the Colors and the
assembled members of the Society. After a heartfelt Invocation by
Kent Brinkley, Sir MacHaggis (aka Byron Adams) inspected the beast
for any signs of life and proceeded to give the “Ode” with a flair
that Burns himself would have approved.
Congratulations to Lynn Newcomer for being
awarded our “Scot of the Year” for 2008. He couldn’t be with us
this year because he and Margie were somewhere in the Caribbean on a
cruise chasing Jimmy Buffet. Congratulations, as well, to Jim
Anthony for all his hard work through the years as one of only three
founding members still active in the Society and now a
“Distinguished Life Member”.
Thanks to:
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The Williamsburg Pipes and Drums, and Pipe Major Kevin
MacIntosh for their presentation.
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Jim White and Doug Burns for the commemorative slide
show; Wayne Craigmiles for his help with the invitations, Dave
Lowery with the nametags and Marshall Thomas for our web site,
communications and “The Spectator.” What a great added benefit to
have members with this level of expertise contributing their
services to the success of the 2009 Burns Nicht.
ô
Bob Maccubbin for putting the evening into a special
context with his excellent Immortal Memory tribute to the greatness
of Robert Burns and the relevance of his works today.
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The presentation by our friend from across the water,
Rob Lockwood, and his wonderful rendition of “Tam o’shanter”.
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Everyone who gave a toast, Heather, Sherri, Jamie, Dr.
Sale and of course Claudette and her “caddie.” If you weren’t there
you’ll never understand that last comment.
ô
The able assistance of MacHaggis for an outstanding
and successful raffle.
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Stacy Apelt for his donation of the handmade kilt pin
for the raffle, as well as all the others who donated items.
ô
Jim Anthony and Bob Flinn for their musical
contributions to the evening.
Last, but not least, two other gentlemen that
need to be recognized: Wil Phillips and Howard Topp. Wil is praised
for organizing one of the best Burns’ Nicht ever and Howard for
being our Captain for the past two years. Thanks so much from me
and the Society, job well done to you both.
I would also like to recognize the
achievements of another member. Jamie Griffin was the first women to
join the Society, the first women to be elected to the Board and now
the first women to be elected an officer of the Society, serving as
Vice President. We all extend out sincerest appreciation to her for
her contributions, and I certainly look forward to working with her
this coming year.
We have tentatively scheduled some exciting
and interesting events for 2009 and your participation will be
greatly encouraged. Look for the details concerning each of these
events in the coming months. During the past two years we have been
encouraged by the number of rank and file members who have become
involved in the society planning and decision making process for our
activities. I wish to encourage you to share your suggestions for
future society activities with the board and to become actively
involved in our events. The officers and members of the board
members endeavor to put on programs that allow our Society to grow
in a way that raises awareness of our Scottish heritage and culture
among the general population of the Williamsburg area, we are always
appreciative of innovative suggestions.
All the best for the New Year,
Yours Aye,
Bob Davis
Clan Donnachaidh
Clan Kennedy
Clan MacFarlane
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