THE PRESIDENT’S NEWSLETTER
Volume 39, No. 3, April/May 2018
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Greetings members!
Our third news letter is usually sent in May but with so many upcoming activities I wanted to get this out a little early. This was a busy time for Scotland. We have just celebrated National Tartan Day on April 6th. This is a holiday in the United States passed by a US Senate Resolution in 1998. Although the idea arose in Nova Scotia in the 1980s it was not made official throughout Canada until 2010. This celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath signed on that date in 1320. This was not a declaration of independence for the Scottish people. It was much closer to the Magna Carta than to our own Declaration of Independence. (There is evidence that Thomas Jefferson consulted this document but opted against using it as a template for the Declaration of Independence.) The declaration was a letter to the Pope in Avion. William the Bruce had been excommunicated and essentially with that so had the other Noblemen of Scotland. The legitimacy of Bruce’s claim to be King was in question and the Nobles asked the Pope to rescind the excommunication and give them freedom. This was not the freedom of a blue faced Mel Gibson but the freedom to be their own nation and to choose their own King. Of course the meaning of freedom as expressed in the declaration and on the big screen depends upon how the original Latin was translated. The Pope never replied.
As I sit here I also think about April 16, 272 years ago today. Unfortunately it was on that date that Culloden changed the history of Scotland.
Much has gone on since my last note. Both the House Committee and Garden Committee have been enthusiastic and active. A number of repairs have been made to the rooms and thanks for a lovely donation from Sunmark we now have a conference table and basically a conference room on the third floor that will be useful for some of our meetings and potentially for members to use going forward. Two days have been set aside for garden work. The first is this Saturday 4/21 at 10:00. I suspect that this will mostly be for planning purposes since we’re not quite ready to actually work in the garden. There will be a second gathering on 5/19 also at 10 AM to get down to the work of cleaning up the yard and the gardens. Hopefully this will also include a rebuild of the back porch.
There has also been significant enthusiasm on the part of the Program Committee. We had a wonderful presentation by Peter Bowden from Hewitt’s Garden Shop at our last regular meeting. He reviewed an organic program for starting our spring gardens and lawns. He also happily answered questions about our own yards. This was very well received. Unfortunately again we had a rather poor turnout. I’m hopeful that now that the snowbirds are returning to Albany we will do better with our upcoming programs. The next regular meeting will be on 5/10. The Grand Master of lodge #5 of the Masonic Temple will present a program on the history of the Albany lodge which is one of the oldest in the country. They are in the process of celebrating 250 years of history and Grand Master Rivera will be reviewing the plans for the celebration and the local history of lodge number 5. We will be inviting some of the members of the lodge to join us for this presentation, particularly members of the Scottish Sect.
Our next gathering will be to honor the Past Presidents. Again this will be held at the Albany Country Club. The invitations should be going out this week for that event on Friday, May 18. Plans are well underway for that. Again I would stress the need for active participation which has been poor on all levels. We do need to have quorums at the regular meetings and with all the work that goes into the special events it’s only fair that we have good participation there as well.
As for Tartan Day, we had a small but respected representation in the New York City parade. The stalwarts were Frank Alguire, Rich Hixon, Jay Higle, and Jim McCann. It was a sunny but blustery day but the scotch and the parade were good. They marched right behind the SAS of NYS in the front of the parade. Friendships were made with two of the oldest societies in the country, the New York City St. Andrews Society (SAS of NYS) and the Scottish Society from Boston. Hopefully we will be able to expand upon these inroads for fun and profit. Also Mr. Breeze had his annual gathering on 4/6 with about 40 bottles of scotch, haggis, and a great 20 pounds Salmon. There was a wonderful turnout and the festivities went on into the night as best as I can remember.
One other event to speak of was a rousing party at the rooms for St. Patrick’s Day. Dan made a great corned beef and the food and drink was never ending. It was great to look down at all the people freezing below. Richard Beach joined us for that and has offered to become a Steward. He and Dan are making plans for the future. I would still very much like to have one more volunteer as a Steward. Our other Steward is now the first vice president and travels a distance to get here so in fairness I think we need 3 active Stewards if anyone is willing. I would also very much like to have of member with an interest in IT to volunteer to help Rev. Shook with the duties of webmaster. There is little complaining coming from him but I know that the activities and demands are significant.
I would again like to point out the need for donations that can be made through the society. A matching gift can be arranged for donations that members would like to make. The donation needs to be passed by the Board of Managers but it would help the finances of the society greatly and make all of our donations more effective. It would probably be best if the requests could be made by the end of the summer. That way they can be acted upon by the BoMs and the donations can be made within this fiscal year. I did receive a solicitation from the National Trusts for Scotland Foundation just this week. One of their major activities this year is reconstruction of the Hill House, a major architectural marvel of Charles McIntosh. This is a matching gift opportunity from the NTSUSA. If there is any interest in this I think that it would be nice if the society could collect donations from a number of members and forward a society gift for this latest appeal.
There are two more upcoming dates of import. The annual Scot’s day at Fort Ticonderoga will be on Saturday, June 16. Frank is arranging for a tent and a society presence at this event. Anyone who has not visited the Fort will find that this is a true gem of American history and is well worth the experience. Also Scots Day with the Memorial service at the Black Watch Cairn is a moving experience. Lastly early plans are being made for the Presidents Tea which will likely be held on one of the last 2 weekends in July. More information will be forthcoming.
With respect from your President,
Richard T MacDowell