Press Release, Virginia Scottish Games Association, Inc., December 5, 2008
Virginia Scottish Games Association, Inc.
The Plains, VA—The Virginia Scottish Games Association (VSGA) signed an agreement today with Great Meadow Foundation to hold the 36th Annual Virginia Scottish Games and Festival at Great Meadow in The Plains, VA. Representing the VSGA at the signing was VSGA President Thomas Wright and VSGA Vice President David McKenzie. Signing for Great Meadow Foundation was their Chairman Arthur W. Arundel. “We are thrilled with the prospect of holding the [Virginia Scottish] Games here at Great Meadow,” said VSGA President Thomas Wright. “It is the perfect venue for hosting the Games. From its breathtaking scenery to its wide open spaces, Great Meadow provides easy access and proximity to both the metropolitan DC area in addition to the communities out west in the Shenandoah. Everybody is familiar with the Great Meadow location.” Considered northern Virginia’s premier outdoor event venue, Great Meadow is host to the annual spring and fall steeplechase races.
The Virginia Scottish Games is an annual state-sponsored event celebrating the rich Scottish heritage and traditions of so many of Virginia’s first families. The Games began in 1974 as an officially sponsored event of the City of Alexandria. For 33 years, the Games were held every July at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA. In 2007, the Games moved west to Fauquier County. The Games have grown steadily throughout the years and now typically draw on average 15,000 to 20,000 over two days from across the Northern Virginia region and beyond.
The cornerstone of the Virginia Scottish Games is the highland athletic competition. Throughout the years the Games has played host to numerous professional and amateur championships. In 2009, the Games will host many of the top-ranked professional athletes in North America to include several who have competed at the recent World Championships. In addition to athletics there are piping & drumming and highland dance competitions, Scottish fiddling, and the very popular sheep-herding demonstrations. For the auto enthusiast, there will be more than 50 rare and antique cars on display both Saturday and Sunday. The festival is rounded out with a variety of vendors & crafters, clan and society exhibits, a living history encampment, activities just for the children, traditional and modern Celtic music throughout the day on the main stage, and plenty of Scottish food and drink.
The 36th Annual Virginia Scottish Games & Festival will take place on September 5-6, 2009 at Great Meadow in The Plains, VA. Gates open at 9AM and close at 6PM. Tickets are $18. Children 5—12 are $5 and under 5 are free. A two-day pass can be purchased for $25. Active duty military receive $5 off the price of admission with ID at the gate. Discounted tickets and a schedule of events will be available online at www.vascottishgames.org in summer 2009. Great Meadow is located at 5089 Old Tavern Rd in The Plains, VA and is just a short 30 minute drive on I-66 from either the Washington Beltway or I-81.
If you require additional information about the Virginia Scottish Games, please contact the Virginia Scottish Games Association at info@vascottishgames.org or 703-912-1943.
Original article
(Posted on July 7, 2009)
Comments
There will be thousands of people there, and I’ll but my bottom dollar that NO ONE will get shot! Haggis for everyone!
Lol, the Scottish are not ‘white’, they are Scottish. Stop trying to pigeonhole them into a meaningless category for political purposes.
I will be bringing my fellow black panthers to protest the racist Scottish games.
Don’t you know the Scottish flag was the inspiration for the Confederate flag? And that they wear kilts instead of African loincloths which they wrongly consider to be primitive?
Free Mumia and Michael Vick!
“Lol, the Scottish are not ‘white’…”
LOL, the Scottish may be Scottish, but the Scottish are definitely white, LOL. If you think that’s a “meaningless category,” try walking around in West Oakland after midnight or applying for a fire fighter job in San Francisco. And nobody’s doing anything for “political purposes” here. We should be, but we’re not.
This is all well and good as long as it is called Scottish. Just try calling it something else like Celtic or White Games and Festival’s and it would be shut down faster than you could yell Eric Holder.
Historama,
The Scottish Nationalist Party put it succinctly.
“Wearing a kilt no more makes you a Scotsman, than wearing a grass skirt makes you an African.”
Race is tied to ethnicity, and culture is the glue that holds them together. Scots are moste DECIDEDLY white. and anyone that isn’t “White,” isn’t a Scot.
End of discussion.
Historama wrote:
The Scottish are a specific ethnicity who happen to be white. If your trying to suggest that an African or Asian who is born in Scotland is ethnically Scottish then your dening the Scots a right to exist, which makes you a genocidist.
http://dienekes.blogspot.com/2008/12/2008-in-review-ethnicity-strikes-back.html
3 — Raheem Shabazz wrote at 1:26 AM on July 8:
Don’t you know the Scottish flag was the inspiration for the Confederate flag? And that they wear kilts instead of African loincloths which they wrongly consider to be primitive?
Free Mumia and Michael Vick!
So what if the Confederate battle flag got its influence from Scotland’s national flag. The American headquarters of the Freemasonic Scottish Rite was in Charleston from colonial days. Many Southern Whites were Scots by descent. It makes perfect sense when viewed in that context and is not wrong or evil or anything but a continued saga of a people who were fiercely independent against the Romans, English and later Northern American state and the rise of a strong Federal government model. Slavery was only a useful political issue that radical Christian movements used for their own political gain.
The major mistake of the nineteenth century is that President Monroe did not fully succeed in sending all Black slaves back to Africa and avoid the disaster of civil war and the present social and political mess we have today. This mistake has led to a steady decline and now impending collapse of the United States.
What I wonder is that if it is so bad here and you are so proud of your African roots, why are you still here and not engaged in saving Africa and building that continent into an international superpower? Easier to demand/beg for handouts here?
Where does the article or commentary - so far - say that Scots are White? However, it is not incorrect to say or write that Scots - actual Scots, indigenous Scots are Celtic in origin and as such may be generally considered to be White in any context where color descriptors are used to define race. You have a political construct that denies the existence of race couched in your statement. We are not as simple as you seem to hope we are.
Telling a Scot or Frenchman or Belgian, or Norwegian, etc., that they are hereby stripped of any factual identity as within a White racial grouping or more importantly a White Indigenous group - people who were settled in a region before the modern historic epic - ought to be seen properly as a political manipulation detrimental to that groups survival and therefore political genocide. It sounds as if you are involved in the perpetration of that crime against humanity. I only hope that this will be recognized before long and reverse the destructive political trends that have been destroying the West and therefore the world eventually for some four decades now.
Right, Historama. Scottish people aren’t white and placing them in that category is completely arbitrary. You might as well lump them in with Mongolians and the Sudanese because they do not share any common bonds with the other European nationalities, right? Thanks for posting here. Your common sense and intellect graces us all.
I always like to get out and support any Euro themed events I can. I hope those of you in attendance have a good time.
Whiteplight:
Please don’t feed the troll. I suspect that “Raheem Shabazz” is one of our people playing games, or maybe a white leftist troll. The grammar is too good to be written by a typical someone named “Raheem Shabazz.” Also, “Raheem Shabazz” knows that the Scottish Flag was the basis for the Confederate Battle Flag. That is the kind of historical knowledge not common to the typical black American convert to Islam.
Great White Observer: I have attened Scottish Games, all over the East Coast, and Midwest. They are also known as Highland Games.
Then there is the Irish Feis. There are a number of those throughout the Country, too. I have been to many, as well.
As far as using the word, “Celtic”, there is an ongoing, three day Celtic Festival, that takes place every August, in Hunter Mountain, in the Catskill Mountains, of New York State. I go every year.
The Celtic Festival has Bands, which play traditioal Celtic instruments from every Celtic Nation, from Scotland and Ireland, to Cornwall and Brittany. Highland Dancing, Scottish County Dancing, and Irish Step Dancing are all performed, and Competitions take place. Likewise, for Bagpipe Competions.
Of course, various liquid refreshments are available for those that work up a powerful thirst, like I do, playing my Bagpipes.
I will probably make the Virginia Scottish Games this year. Look for me. I will be wearing a Kilt, and carrying a set of Bagpipes.
Yes, “Fall of the Tyrants”, I agree with you, that getting out and experiencing other European-centered Cultural events, are good ways to meet your Neighbors, and renew friendships.
Whether it is the Scottish Games, the Italian Feasts, or Polish Festival, it is all safe, clean, fun, and a good day out with your family, and friends, among other Whites.
This weekend, I will be attending a German Bierfest. If I do not post on Monday, it may be due to extenuating circumstances.
I am not of any Scottish ancestry. I have no Scottish, nor any other kind of Celtic blood, in my lineage.
However, I do think that I was a Scottish Highlander in a past lifetime. Sometimes, I think I was one the Highlander warriors who fought with Robert Bruce, against the English, at the Battle of Bannockburn, in the year 1314 A.D.
The reasons for this are is because whenever I go to Scottish events like the Fairhill Scottish Games in Fairhill, Maryland, every May, hear bagpipes playing or songs like “Scotland the Brave” or “Flower of Scotland”, or see movies like “Rob Roy”, “Braveheart” or “Stone of Destiny”, I get these very intense, overwhelming, nostalgic feelings for the Highlands of Scotland.
I have been to many Scottish gatherings and Games, there are vendors present where one may purchase swords, maces, and other implements of war, (I got an excellent replica of Excalibur at one) and walked around the place carrying it. Many other patrons had similar items, and the beer flowed freely. It was a merry and peaceful scene. Can you imagine the mayhem that would ensue if such items were sold at the typical African gathering?
4 — Anonymous wrote at 9:52 AM on July 8:
“LOL, the Scottish may be Scottish, but the Scottish are definitely white, LOL.”
Lol, no they are not. They’re just Scottish. ‘White’ is an artificial category created by New Worlders to distance themselves from other races that were very different physically. It might be useful in this context, but it isn’t objectively correct because Europeans are not all the same.
“If you think that’s a “meaningless category,” try walking around in West Oakland after midnight or applying for a fire fighter job in San Francisco.”
Who cares about mass perception? At one point, lots of people believed in a geocentric universe; they thought this way because the establishment encouraged it and punished those who disagreed. It wasn’t objectively correct though, and neither is the white category (or the yellow, brown, or black category, for that matter).
“All the diverse white ethnicities MUST stand together. Let’s not have any infighting. There is no time for that. I am not advocating hatred of any group of people,only that we stand together as a race, just as other races do!!”
‘We’ are not a race. Europe is comprised of many different indigenous races. Do you think your average Swede considers the average Italian to be his ‘racial brother’? Lol, the differences between Europeans are enormous, and they should not be submerged into a pointless ‘white’ identity. This is true both for New Worlders and Old Worlders.
“The Scottish are a specific ethnicity who happen to be white. If your trying to suggest that an African or Asian who is born in Scotland is ethnically Scottish then your dening the Scots a right to exist, which makes you a genocidist.”
No, actually I wasn’t suggesting that at all. Clearly, the African or Asian cannot be Scottish, because the Scottish ethnic group is built on a racial foundation (just like all genuine ethnicities). Perhaps you need to learn the difference between ethnicity and race?
Incidentally, a Bulgarian cannot be ‘Scottish’ either, since the Scottish ethnicity is based on different races from those that exist in Bulgaria.
“Where does the article or commentary - so far - say that Scots are White?”
The comment below the headline mentions the event as an example of ‘white heritage’. It’s not ‘white heritage’, only Scottish heritage.
But that’s just the thing, ‘color descriptors’ of race are not valid. They are just New World inventions that served a certain purpose at a particular point in time. People here seem to have a very limited understanding of history, and so they come here and talk about ‘white identity’ and pan-European whiteness, as if Europeans were all the same and mutually compatible. In reality, though, both race and ethnicity are extraordinarily complex, and have little to do with ‘black’ and ‘white’.
“Right, Historama. Scottish people aren’t white and placing them in that category is completely arbitrary. You might as well lump them in with Mongolians and the Sudanese because they do not share any common bonds with the other European nationalities, right? Thanks for posting here. Your common sense and intellect graces us all.”
Lol, is that what I suggested? Of course the Scots are more similar racially to other Europeans when compared with non-Europeans. But, ‘more similar’ doesn’t mean they are the same, nor does it justify the existence of a shared identity across ethnocultural boundaries. Not all Europeans are the same, you are just going to have to accept that. Interestingly, most Euro-descended people a century ago didn’t have any problem understanding that fact; they understood that Europeans are extremely different, and would never have dreamed of cramming them into a convenient, all-inclusive racial category.
People here seem to want all Europeans to freely intermix and create a happy ‘Euro-blend’ where all intraracial distinctions between Europeans are destroyed (so much for fair skin, light hair and light eyes, eh?). To me, that is just as undesirable as merging the whole human gene pool together, because it would eliminate the natural diversity of Europe.
“actual Scots, indigenous Scots are Celtic in origin”
Descended from an Irish group called the “Scotti”
Of course there are variations within the White race and differences between different European ethnicities ie. Scots, Italian etc., however they are all still White. There are also differences within the Black, Asian or Latino races, with some ligher and some darker etc., but they are still the same race.
Clan Chieftan: You may well go to Italian Feast’s, German Bierfest’s, Polish Festival’s, and Celtic Festival’s but I would bet you anything that you will never attend a celebration of all these group’s together that is called a European Heritage or White Heritage Festival. That just won’t happen. Celtic or Slavic or something like that is the best it is ever gonna get.
Great White Observer #19: Why not? Let’s get one started. If it’s anywhere near me, and in driving distance, I will be there.
Or, have it move from location to location, around the Country so all Am Ren readers, and other European descended Whites can enjoy it. How about the Am Ren Festival?
I want something like that to take place as a big, “In Your Face” to All Other Minorities.
You will also notice that no matter how many attend the Games, the Feises, the Italian Feasts, or German Bierfests, the Fair Grounds never looks like a bomb has hit, when they’re done.
The Scottish National Party is a multi-racialist outfit that considers everyone who lives in Scotland, even if they just arrived a minute ago from the third world, to be Scottish.
Joe, Post#21: The Scottish Nationalist Party is a Socialist Party. Despite the name Nationalist, it has very little to do with outright Scottish Nationalism, in the sense as we know it.
I read a similiar story a few weeks ago, how Sein Fein wanted the Irish Government to open the doors of Immigration to Ireland, from Africa.
Seeing little Bantus holding the TriColor Irish flag made my blood boil. These Africans were “Refugees”, according to the News Reporter. Well, let them take “Refuge” in another part of Africa, and stay the hell out of Ireland and Scotland.
Sein Fein is a Socilaist Group, as is the IRA, and the Scottish Nationalist Party. All three are Internationalists, Not Nationalists. And that means Communism.
I am damned proud of my Heritage, but I won’t have Socialist Idiots trying to destroy the lands of my Culture. I will call them on it, and say exactly what they are: Communists.
My Grandmother came from Ireland almost 90 years ago. When she arrived in New York, through Ellis Island, she had seen her first Black man, and almost fainted, with the fright of it. She later said that she thought that the Blacks were American Indians, that they had heard about, in Ireland.
Clan Chieftan #20: This would be wonderful, but my main point is that it would never happen. Once the word got out about such a planned event you can bet your life that the owner of the property where the event was to be held would be hounded into cancelling the event. This would be done by the hustler’s and pimp’s like Sharpton & company or by local government’s using the excuse that they coud not guarantee security. I agree with you about the condtion the Fair Grounds are left in after these Festival’s and they are not left littered with dead and wounded.
“…But, ‘more similar’ doesn’t mean they are the same, nor does it justify the existence of a shared identity across ethnocultural boundaries..”
Funny how the government is keenly aware as to what constitutes ‘White’ when it comes to racial head counts such as AA, voting patterns, the census, employment preferences, EEOC matters and hate crimes— we Whites are ‘crammed into a convenient, all-inclusive racial category.’
I would not argue European-Americans are all the same, however, the US received waves of immigrants from disparate European nations (this is the US BTW, NOT Europe) before the non-White flood after 1965. Many descendants of pre-1965 immigrants eventually intermarried as immigrants at that time were encouraged to become Americans and NOT hang on to ethnic identities, as today’s immigrants are so encouraged.
Shared identities allow similar peoples to band together to form advocacy groups, to promote their groups interests and to offer legal protection against discrimination. There is strength in numbers.
Many, if not most, American Whites are of mixed European heritage—I would feel comfortable at a Scottish, English or German festival or through my marriage at an Italian, Irish or Jewish event. I consider this all part of my heritage. I have also attended Greek, Norwegian, Icelandic, Polish and Serbian celebrations through other family members’ intermarriages.
We all consider ourselves White, as does the government, whether you like it or not.
Why is it, do you think, that the government hypocritically allows and even encourages every race and/or ethnic group except WHITES to form race- or ethno-centric advocacy groups?
“….People here seem to have a very limited understanding of history…”
May we have a few specific examples of our ‘limited understanding of history.’
Wow, enlighten us with your wisdom!
Bon
