Section 2 Thank You.

Section 3 The Games We Played.

Section 4 The Dues and Where They Go.

Section 5 Our New T-Shirt Venture.

Section 6 Links to Scottish Highland Games and Other Events of 2010.

Section 7 Invitation.

Additional Information.

In order for your Clan to be a presence at, and participate in these events, we need our members to volunteer to help with hosting our tent.  If there If there is any event listed below that you care to host please let me know.   

A Short List of Washington State Scottish Highland Games in 2010

03/27/2010 Scottish American Festival Puyallup.  No tent, No tent, table or chair needed for this one!  All All inside, free parking.  (Richard (Richard McMillan will host)

06/05-06/2010 Bellingham Highland Games    (Jean Cole and Marlene Epp will host)

6/19/2010 Prosser Scottish Festival 

6/26/2010 Tacoma Highland Games (Doug  (Doug Macmillan will host)

7/10-11/2010 Skagit Valley Highland Games & Celtic Festival 

7/31/2010 – 8/1/2010 Pacific NW Scottish Highland Games 

8/06-07/2010 Spokane Highland Games 

8/14/2010 Whidbey Island Highland Games    (Bryon and Susan McMillan will host)           

9/11-12/2010 Kelso Highlander Festival 

It’s been a year since our convening meeting and election of our first officers: Adhania Olson – president, Doug Macmillan – vice president; Jean Cole – secretary; and Charley McMillen - treasurer.  As a As a member of the clan, I would like to thank them for all the work they did during this first year to get this clan up and running.  I would I would also like to thank Betsy McMillen for all she did in helping Jean with proofreading, etc.  Her help Her help was invaluable.

Adhania’s death the first of May was a shock to all.  But the But the remaining officers were committed to keeping the Clan MacMillan Washington State Branch alive and functioning, and put their hearts, souls, and resources into making it happen.

We had our second annual meeting at Enumclaw July 25, 2009, and elected officers for the 2009-2010 year.  Charley Charley chose to retire from treasurer duties, but will continue to play an active role with the clan.  He did an He did an incredible job of piecing together all the fiscal data from when Adhania first started organizing the clan branch.  He He created a very accurate accounting of all our income and expenses from November 2007 through early August 2009.  So a very So a very heartfelt thank you for his service.  Both Both Betsy and Charley have played a major part in making our clan what it is today.

Thank you to all the members who made sure we had clan tents in Puyallup, Ferndale, Enumclaw, and Whidbey Island.  Visibility is key to having a strong membership and making our presence known among the other clans.

And also thanks to all of our members, new and old, who have joined us in celebrating our Scottish MacMillan heritage.  We are We are still a work in progress, but we are hoping to make this an organization you are proud to be associated with.

Slàinte.

The first event of 2009 was Tartan Day, held on March 29 at the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup.  As I As I recall, it was pouring down rain that day – so very unlike spring weather in western Washington.  But But Charley and Betsy McMillen braved the storm and represented Clan MacMillan at the festivities.  Reports Reports are that they, and everyone else in attendance, had a great time – including initiation into the art of “sheep reiving”.  It takes It takes more than a little rain to keep the hearty Scots down!!

The Bellingham Games were the next event on this year’s calendar.  It was It was held June 7-8 at Hovander Homestead Park in Ferndale, just north of Bellingham.  Unfortunately, a month before this event, Adhania passed away – leaving us wondering what the heck to do now!! Jean Cole and Marlene Epp agreed to be the primary hosts of the clan tent.  So the So the first thing they had to do was get a tent!  That That done, they had to put their heads together, along with other council members, and figure out what they needed to have at the tent.  So come So come Thursday afternoon prior to the games, these two pioneers decided it would be prudent to do a practice run putting up the tent.  The only The only relatively flat surface big enough was a slanting concrete driveway.  And did And did we mention it was about 90 degrees outside?  So here So here they are out trying to put up the tent, figure out how the sides went on, where to put the tables, etc. and all these people are driving by thinking they’re getting ready for a garage sale. 

After stopping at Staples to get supplies, they headed to Bellingham.  Arrived Arrived at the park to set up the tent.  They had They had no sooner taken the tent out of the canvas carrier than about three men showed up to help.  The tent The tent was up in about 5 minutes.  It was It was just amazing how helpful and friendly everyone was. 

Fortunately, the weather cooled off and it wasn’t so hot.  Marlene Marlene and Jean hosted the tent on Saturday.  Doug Doug Macmillan and Charley & Betsy McMillen and their family joined them on Sunday.  There There were lots of visitors to the tent and the clan gained five new members – a gentleman from Oak Harbor and a family of four from Bellingham. 

Unfortunately, we had no clan members available for the June 21 Prosser Scottish Fest in Prosser, the June 28 Tacoma Highland Games in Graham, nor the July 12-13 Skagit Valley Games in Mount Vernon.  We’ll be We’ll be looking for volunteers to help out on those for 2010.

The Pacific Northwest Highland Games and Clan Gathering took place on July 25-26 at the Expo Center in Enumclaw.  There There were lots of visitors to the clan tent.  It became It became quite evident that we had a sales person extraordinaire in our midst.  I don’t I don’t know where Richard McMillan found all these folks, but our tent was overflowing.  It was It was great.    And I’m And I’m sure the Tipsy Laird that Doug Macmillan served attracted a lot of interest, also.  We added We added at least one new member, but there will probably be more.  Good job, Good job, guys.

In addition to the tent hosting festivities, we also had our second annual general meeting and elected new officers for 2009-2010.  Our new Our new officers are: Doug Macmillan, president; Richard McMillan, vice president; Jean Cole, secretary; and Marlene Epp, treasurer.  We also We also passed a change to our by-laws so that membership dues are due on the anniversary of a member’s joining rather than all memberships expiring at the same time. We shared some fundraising ideas that we will be pursuing.  And we And we decided the games in Enumclaw are the appropriate time for the annual general meeting, but we need to find a place to meet that’s out of the weather.

On August 8, Richard McMillan, Roberto Minghetti, and Byron and Susan McMillan hosted the tent at the Whidbey Island Games at Greenbank Farm.  Richard Richard reported they had a great time, with lots of visitors signing in and who knows – we may have some new members as a result.   

The last outdoor event on the calendar was September 6-7 in Kelso at Tam O’Shanter Park.  We did We did not attend due to the fact that the only volunteer to do this event didn’t have a vehicle large enough to transport all the gear (mainly the tent).

And the last event of the year was the 45^th Annual Heather Tartan Ball, November 7, 2009 at the Northgate Community Center, 10510 - 5^th Ave NE, Seattle.  Against Against hosted by Richard, Byron and Doug.

Our modest dues must be stretched to cover the considerable costs of maintaining the presence at the various Games and events that attract existing and future members of the Clan MacMillan, Washington State Branch.  These are These are the events that provide the vital personal link to us as a close-knit Scottish clan group.  The The registration and insurance fees are only part of expenses in having our ‘Clan Tent’ participate in a particular event.  The costs The costs include the printed materials and collected items that adorn the tent.  Refreshments and various handouts that many welcome are also part of those costs.  Mail Mail costs have gone up since we formed and we do make a concerted effort to attract more members and stay in close contact with our current members. 

The Clan MacMillan International Centre at Finlaystone is partially maintained by contributions from the Branches around the world.  In In November 2009 we sent $135 (representing the additional $5 members sent to us with their membership dues) to Scotland in support of the Centre and its staff.  There, There, the Chief and his staff collect the information and materials that pertain to the MacMillan Clan (and its Septs) heritage for all to see.  We, as an We, as an official Branch, have access to that information and several of our members have been cordially greeted in Finlaystone by Chief George Gordon MacMillan.  If you If you have any plans to be in Scotland in the coming year, you may want to arrange for a visit at Finlaystone in Langbank.  .  http://www.clanmacmillan.org/Centre.htm