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www.celtic-connection.com
SEPTEMBER 2001
ceLeBRATirsq ~W The ceLric UnAqirsATioM
Celtic Wedding Rings
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Call 1-800-205-5890 for a free catalog www.gaelsong.com
13Kockton
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Located in Stanley PaKk
Open lor lunch on Fridays!
Wedding Receptions • Conventions • Meetings Book your next event with as Special rates available for Rugby Members Clubhouse (604) 681-0640 • Fax (604)681-0664
Hector Russell Scottish Imports
BE PART OF A PROUD HERITAGE
The World's Largest Kiltmaker All our kilts are hand made in Scotland in our own workshop
146 S.W.152nd Street, Seattle, WA. 98166 (Located in Burien, 20minutes from downtown Seattle) (206) 242 1768/0291 Fax: (206) 439 8066 E-mail: HRSImports@aol.com Website: www.hector-russell.com
STANLEY PARK was the setting for this summer's "Dancing in the Park" series sponsored by the Vancouver Parks Board.
Entertaining Evenings Scottish Country Dancing
VANCOUVER - Your ears catch the strains of fiddles and pipes, drifting near Stanley Park's Lost Lagoon and you follow the sound toward the setting sun at Second Beach. There, your eyes light on a group dancing to lively jigs and reels, skirts swirling and kilts swinging. A scene from Brigadoon? Then, you see a hand outstretched to a girl in pig-tails and a tie-dyed shirt, inviting her to try out a dance.
This is present day when Scottish Country Dancers throughout the Lower Mainland eagerly seized the opportunity to keep dancing throughout the summer at the Vancouver Parks Board sponsored "Dancing in the Park" series.
The Vancouver Branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and various Lower Mainland Scottish Country Dance groups took turns hosting these evening dances which ran from June 18 to August 20.
The weather gods smiled this season, with not one evening rained out (although threatened showers forced the cancellation of the Vancouver Fiddle Orchestra's July performance.)
Feature nights included demonstration team dancing, a pipe band performance, ceilidh dance instruction, and dances geared for children.
The intent of the series is to pro-
vide entertainment in addition to encouraging audience participation. It was especially rewarding to see visitors return week after week to learn steps and hone their skills in the "participation" series.
Anyone wishing to continue Scottish Country Dancing (or try it for the first time) is invited to attend classes starting in September throughout the Lower Mainland. For more information, call (604) 737-7948 or visit the RSCD website at: www.rscdsvancouver .org. Ceilidh dances resume at the Scottish Cultural Centre on the last Friday of each month. For more information, call (604) 436-3193.
Islanders to Retain Policeman
UNST, Shetland - Residents of the remote Scottish island have won a campaign to retain a police officer for their community. Unst in Shetland had its own officer for more than 30 years until May, when Constable Andy Thomas moved to Kirkwall with his wife and three young children after a four-year stint.
As well as losing another family on the island, which saw the population plummet with the closure of an RAF base, locals feared they would lose a police presence for good.
But a 300-signature petition sent to the force's area command headquarters in Lerwick and force HQ in Inverness, calling for the post to be retained, has worked. Northern Constabulary has now confirmed that it will advertise for a replacement for PC Thomas.
No crime figures are available for Unst, but Shetland has the second lowest crime rate, behind Orkney, in the Northern Constabulary area. Unst is 50 miles from the Shetland mainland and currently has a population of fewer than 900.
SCOTTISH HUMOUR
Who's the Boss in Your House?
One day, a nuclear bomb went off accidentally in Glasgow. As Billy Connolly once remarked, nobody could see any difference in the place afterwards, but one consequence was that all the Glasgow residents ended up in heaven (of course).
At that time, God was carrying out a sociological experiment and announced, "I want the men to make two lines. One line for the men who ruled their women on earth and the other line for the men who were ruled by their women. All the women can go straight through with St. Peter."
The next time God looked, the women were gone and there were two lines.The line of men who were ruled by their women stretched as far as the eye could see, and in the line of men who ruled their women, there was only one wee Glasgow "hard man."
God became angry and said, "You men should be ashamed of yourselves. I created you in my image and yet you were all under the thumb of your mates. Look at the
only one who stood up and made me proud. Learn from him! Tell them, my son, how did you manage to be the only one in this line?"
The wee Glasgow hard man looked startled but replied, "I don't know - my wife told me to stand here."
Vancoacen Scottish Fiddle Club
Monthly workshops and jam sessions in traditional Scottish and Cape Breton fiddle tunes. One Sunday a month. Please contact Shona Le Mottee at 604.657.1587 or Marjorie Peace at 604.438.2690 or e-mail iolap@hotmail.com