Your Board2018-2019

BOARD:

PresidentFrank MacIntire

Vice PresidentSue Eltonhead

SecretaryElizabeth Marshall

TreasurerDiane Kemp

DIRECTORS:

Manning Edmonds

Alice Flint

Caryn Johnson

Allan McIlraith

Peg Tonn

William Wallace

SPECIAL CHAIRPERSONS

MembershipBill Wallace

Thistle EditorDr. Michael Wolfe

WebmasterPaul Johnson

Sunshine LadyJennifer Meinert

Media CoordinatorRachel “Gay” Haines

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Dear members,

This being my last President Report I should like to focus on the Club’sachievements over the past two years.

I feel our visibility as a prominent Scottish Club in the Sarasota area has definitelygrown especially with the help of many of our more active and dedicated members.I am not going to mention specific individuals in case I might leave someone out.

These events include: the continued popularity of Piper-in-the-Park held Sundaysfrom January through April (except Easter) at sunset; the monthly LadiesLuncheon (with men invited); Summer Socials; and the Selby Library series.We also had an overflow crowd at the Càilidh prior to the Heritage Games. VeryEnjoyable.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the upcoming Thistle Ball being held thisyear at Stoneybrook Country Club, Sarasota on March 30; and on April 11celebrating with the Asolo Reparatory Theatre for the 60th Anniversary of theinstallation of Scotland’s Dunfermline Opera House, which is now The MertzTheatre.

In closing there are two people who need to be mentioned. My wife, Mary Ellen forher endless support and dedication as my scribe for emails and reports. MichaelWolfe for his hard work and commitment as editor of the Thistle Newsletter.Thanks again for everyone’s hard work and support in making my two years asPresident a memorable one.

Regards,

Frank MacIntire, President

The ThistletireMARCH-APRIL 2019

Caledonian Club of Florida West, Inc.

In partnership with Selby Public Library, the Club presents a “Magical, Musical Tour OfScotland” in the remaining two-parts, featuring famed Scottish balladier,

, and . Greeted by a Piper, thesehour-long enduring features will be held at 3:00pm the last Wednesdays of March, andApril at Selby Library downtown—three Scottish “specials” free to all (we Scots like that)!Bill Wallace oversees. Again, bring a member and friend along.

The annual “Kirken O’ The Tartan” is scheduled for Sunday morning, April 28, 11:00AM,at the Church of the Palms. Denied the privilege of wearing or displaying their familyplaids (tartans) the Scots found a way! Everyone welcome!

“A Braw Wee Scottish Heritage Celebration” will carry the spotlight as the Club partnerswith the Asolo Repertory Theatre on April 11, highlighting the 60th anniversary of theopening of the Dunfermline, Scotland Opera House becoming the mainstage of the AsoloRepertory Theatre—now known as The Mertz Theatre—and the Caledonian Club’sparticipation in bringing it to Sarasota. Special ticket prices for our members and friendsand special post-show reception at evening performance, sponsored by the CaledonianClub. (Additional info on your email invitation).

Then add the monthly “Ladies (and Men)Luncheons,” directed by Dr. Mary Thompson(941-342-0760, ),and you all have an ample sample of “ScottishDoins.” The next get-together is FRI, March 29,11:30AM, at Miller’s Ale House in Sarasota.

The 3rd annual “Piper-in-the-Park” presentation will take place every Sunday (exceptEaster) until the end of April at sunset located at Bayfront Park in downtown Sarasota.These concerts are free to the public! Chairs Joel and Jeanne Davies remind you tobring a member and a friend along!

The 33rd annual “Thistle Ball” will be held March 30th, 5:30PM, at Stoneybrook CountryClub under the direction of Mary Ellen McMahon and Frank MacIntire, featuring totalScottish color, sweet music from Heart and Soul, a special community honoree, anddancing your heart away! (More on the Ball in this Thistle!). As always, bring a memberand a friend.

Caledonian Club of Florida West

Thistle BallMarch 30, 2019

Sunday, April 28, 2019

https://floridascots.org

Scotch-Irish?Are You

SCOTCH-IRISH, a term referring to a migrant group of Protestant settlers from Scotland to northern Irelandin the seventeenth century and their subsequent migration to the American colonies in the eighteenth century, isan Americanism, a term seldom heard in Ireland and the United Kingdom and seldom used by British historians.Although it was first used during the colonial period—alongside "Irish," "Ulster Irish," "Northern Irish," and "IrishPresbyterians"—to describe the Irish in America, it fell out of general use by the time of the early republic, only tobe renewed after the mass migration of Irish Catholics to the United States (1846–1856) as a means ofdistinguishing Irish Americans in terms of religion, culture, and class.

From 1606 to the end of the seventeenth century, a large number of migrants, mostly from thelowlands of Scotland, settled in the province of Ulster, northern Ireland, where many of them becametenant farmers. Though the lands originated as a private venture for Scottish investors, James Iplaced them under royal authority, claiming the lands of the defeated Irish rebels for the crown in1607 and backing the colonial scheme in a royal missive to the Scottish Privy Council in 1609. Hisaim was to pacify the Scottish borders, relieving the kingdom of "reivers" ("rustlers") and thedispossessed of the borderlands. What is more, he anticipated that the largely Presbyterianemigrants would provide a buffer zone against the Irish Catholics, to be God's bulldogs, as it were.His plan worked and the plantation flourished for much of the century. By 1620, as many as 50,000lowland Scots had settled in the Ulster province, followed by another 50,000 by the beginning of theEnglish civil wars (1640). Economic, religious, and political conditions in northern Ireland by the endof the century, however, brought the enterprise to a standstill, instigating yet another migration—thistime to the New World.

The migration of the Scotch-Irish to the American colonies, sometimes called the "greatmigration" by American historians, took place approximately between the years 1717 and1776 and was largely the result of high rents, low wages, and parliamentary regulation.Although small pockets of Scotch-Irish were already arriving in America during the seventeenthcentury, it was not until 1717, with the transplantation of 5,000 Ulstermen to Pennsylvania,that the "great migration" got underway, culminating in about 200,000 Scotch-Irishmen inAmerica by the beginning of the Revolution. Most of them entered the colonies by way ofPhiladelphia and settled in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania. Others moved to thebackcountry of Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, where they built a buffer zoneagainst the French and Indians as far north as western Pennsylvania and parts of New York.Smaller pockets also settled in New England and along the eastern seaboard, but theirnumbers were dwarfed by the migration en masse to the backcountry, where the Scotch-Irishbecame the dominant group and the vanguard of the frontier movement in the nineteenth century.

�(Cont.)

Culturally, the Scotch-Irish were known as independent frontiersmen who carried a rifle inone hand and the Bible in the other. As the councilman of Pittsburgh, Robert Garland,summarized their coming to America, "They were pioneers, frontiersmen, these Scotch-Irish: their general equipment consisted of a rifle, the Bible, and the Psalms of David."Most were Presbyterians, but some converted to other noncomformist religions, likeMethodism and Baptism, and sided with the new side revival movements of the eighteenthand nineteenth centuries. As Presbyterians, the Scotch-Irish, though not with the sameintensity as that of their puritan neighbors, promoted literacy and higher education—literacy,that is, in the sense of allowing one to read the scriptures, and higher education in thesense of supplying an educated ministry.

Besides the dissenting academies, which were usually built in the back parts of America, the Scotch-Irish were involved in thefounding of the colleges of New Jersey (now Princeton), Dickinson, Allegheny, and Hampden-Sydney, and the universities ofDelaware, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Their support of literacy and education, however, had its limits.As God's frontiersmen, they applauded virility and physical strength more profusely. "Honor in this society," as one historiandescribed it, "meant a pride of manhood in masculine courage, physical strength, and warrior virtue." Considering the longhistory of warfare in the borderlands of Scotland and Ireland, physical strength and manly courage were not simply a matter ofhonor, but a means of survival, which the Scotch-Irish transplanted to the borderlands of America during the colonial period andto the conquest of the West in the nineteenth century.

The significance of the Scotch-Irish in North America might be summarized by their numbers at the endof the "great migration." Comprising no less than 10 to 15 percent of the population in the United Statesby 1776, they became ardent supporters of the American Revolution and were the backbone ofWashington's army. Perhaps their fierce independence and family histories of parliamentary regulationbetween the years 1665 and 1680—as well as the Woolens Act of 1699 and the religious test of 1704—heightened their anti-British sentiment. Whatever the case, the Scotch-Irish were ardent supporters ofthe revolutionary cause from the very beginning. As the historian George Bancroft summarized theirsupport in the early years of the war, "the first voice publicly raised in America to dissolve all connectionwith Great Britain came, not from the Puritans of New England, nor from the Dutch of New York, norfrom the cavaliers from Virginia, but from the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians."

Source: Bailyn, Bernard. The Peopling of British North America: An Introduction. New York: Knopf, 1986.

Notable Americans of Scotch-Irish descent include the composer Stephen C. Foster, thefinancier and statesman Andrew W. Mellon, the frontiersman Davy Crockett, the inventorsRobert Fulton, Samuel Morse, and Cyrus McCormack, and the writers Mark Twain, EdgarAllan Poe, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Of the U.S. presidents, those who can claim some sort ofScotch-Irish lineage are James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan,Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison,William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower,Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. That isto say, about 47 percent of U.S. presidents were of Scotch-Irish descent, and of 216 years ofthe presidency, 113 of those years were occupied by a president of Scotch-Irish descent.

Caledonian Club of Florida West

Thistle BallMarch 30, 2019

Mail RSVP CARD page w/Cheque to:MRS. ROBERTA HAMILTON

4196 BOWLING GREEN CIRCLESARASOTA, FL 34233

RSVP CARDNAME ……………….………………………………..

PHONE ……….……………….…….……………….

NAME …….…………………….…………………….

Beef Fish Chicken

NAME .………..……..……..……..………………..

Beef Fish Chicken

Caledonian Club of Florida West

Friday, March 29, 11:30am

Miller's Ale House3800 Kenny DriveSarasota, FL 34232

( Near Cattlemen Road & Bee Ridge Road )

(941) 378-8888

Please RSVP to Dr. Mary Thompsondrmaryj thompson@gmai l .com

941-342-0760

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A BRAW WEE SCOTTISH HERITAGE CELEBRATIONAT ASOLO REPERTORY THEATRE

“NOISE OFF” PERFORMANCETHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 7:30PM

Calling all Scots!!! Calling all Scots!!! Asolo Rep is partnering with the Caledonian Club of Florida West,inviting Scots to don their Scottish attire on April 11 and celebrate Sarasota's Scottish heritage and thebirthday of the installation of Scotland's Dunfermline Opera House that has become The Mertz Theatre.

There are special reduced theatre ticket prices for Scots to attend the 7:30pm performance of NOISESOFF, considered one of the funniest comedies ever written! To receive the discount, use the promocode: SCOT when ordering your tickets*. Theatre goers will also be treated to a special post-showreception on the Asolo Rep Mezzanine. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details.

Tickets may be purchased online, by phone or in person at the box office.Seating is limited and is first come, first served, so be sure to make your reservations early.

For more information about the show and to purchase tickets:

Box Office: 941-351-8000 • 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34243

https://tickets.asolorep.org/2713/2739 • Promo Code: SCOT

DATE EVENT PLACE SPONSOR

THR, APR 11 Musical“Children of Eden” Booker High School GCWS

Gulf Coast Welsh SocietyCALENDAR OF EVENTS

April 2019www.sarasotawelsh.com

DATE EVENT PLACE SPONSOR SUN, MAR 10, Sunset Piper-in-the-Park Bayfront Park, Sarasota CCFW

SUN, MAR 17, Sunset Piper-in-the-Park Bayfront Park, Sarasota CCFW

SUN, MAR 24, Sunset Piper-in-the-Park Bayfront Park, Sarasota CCFW

WED, MAR 27, 3:00PM Tour of Scotland Series 3:Mysterious Scottish Castles Selby Public Library CCFW

FRI, MAR 29, 11:30AM Ladies (and Men) Luncheon Miller’s Ale House, Sarasota CCFW

SAT, MAR 30, 5:30PM Thistle Ball Stoneybrook Country Club CCFW

SUN, MAR 31, Sunset Piper-in-the-Park Bayfront Park, Sarasota CCFW

SUN, APR 7, Sunset Piper-in-the-Park Bayfront Park, Sarasota CCFW

SUN, APR 14, Sunset Piper-in-the-Park Bayfront Park, Sarasota CCFW

WED, APR 24, 3:00PM Tour of Scotland Series 4:Rosslyn Chapel Selby Public Library CCFW

SUN, APR 28, 11:00AM Kirkin’ O’ the Tartan Church of the Palms CCFW-SASS

SUN, APR 28, Sunset Piper-in-the-Park Bayfront Park, Sarasota CCFW

Caledonian ClubCALENDAR OF EVENTS

March - April 2019https://floridascots.org

DATE EVENT PLACE SPONSOR

SUN, APR 7, 11:30AM Scholarship Luncheon &Great Scot Recognition Palm Aire Country Club SASS

SUN, APR 28, 11:00AM Kirkin’ O’ the Tartan Church of the Palms CCFW-SASS

St. Andrew SocietyCALENDAR OF EVENTS

April 2019https://floridascots.org

DATE EVENT PLACE SPONSOR

SAT, MAR 9, 11:00AM LWR Irish Celtic Festival LWR Adventure Park NWC

SUN, MAR 17, ALL DAY St. Patrick’s Day Meeting Shamrock Pub NWC

SAT, APR 6, 4:00PM Tartan Day I Macallister’s Restaurant NWC

SAT, APR 6, 6:30PM Tartan Day II Whiskey DregsMotorworks NWC

APRIL Kilt Night TBD NWCSAT, MAY 18, 10:00AM Kilted Golf Outing TBD NWCSAT, MAY 18, 6:00PM Tribute to Heroes Parade LWR Main Street NWC

New World CeltsCALENDAR OF EVENTS

March - May 2019https://www.NewWorldCeltsSarasota.com

DATE EVENT PLACE SPONSOR

SAT, MAR 9, 10:00AM SICC vs.SICC Intra Club

Sarasota Cricket ClubSarasota FL SICC

SUN, MAR 10, 10:00AM SICC vs.SICC Intra Club

Sarasota Cricket ClubSarasota FL SICC

SAT, MAR 16, 10:00AM SICC vs.JP Gymkhana CC

Sarasota Cricket ClubSarasota FL SICC

SUN, MAR 17, 10:00AM SICC vs.JP Gymkhana CC

Sarasota Cricket ClubSarasota FL SICC

SAT, MAR 23, 10:00AM SICC vs. Titans CC Sarasota Cricket ClubSarasota FL SICC

SAT, APR 20, 10:00AMSICC vs.

Softball CricketTournament

Sarasota Cricket ClubSarasota FL SICC

CALENDAR OF EVENTSMarch - April 2019

https://www.sarasotacricket.org/

Sarasota InternationalCricket Club

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DATE EVENT PLACE SPONSOR

SAT, MAR 16, 8:00PM “Shirley Valentine” Play Manatee Performing ArtCenter, Bradenton SBC

SUN, MAR 24 Tampa Bay Downs Tampa, FL SBC

FRI, MAR 29, 12:00PM March Luncheon Curry Station B IndianRestaurant & Catering SBC

Sarasota British ClubCALENDAR OF EVENTS

March 2019www.sarasotabritishclub.com