By Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot, Atlanta, GA, USA
I’ve been attending Scottish Highland
Games for over a dozen years and, compared to some of you, I’m relatively
new to the trade. But I have attended the Games in Pleasanton, California
four times, in Mesa, Arizona once, and many times my wife, Susan, and I
have put on our Shaw or Chattan tartans to attend those held in Charleston
(SC), Loch Norman (NC), Stone Mountain, Savannah, and Culloden (GA).
Living in Atlanta has made the Stone Mountain event a special one for us.
(We all keep hoping they will bring back the tattoo, a favorite of
many.) We’ve attended the Stone Mountain Games nearly every year, with
an exception or two, and have done as many as eight total games in one
year. We even took in the Highland Games at Blair Castle one year when we
were on our way to Inverness from Edinburgh and saw the flags beckoning us
to join the festivities as we drove up the A9.
There are many other Games I’d like to attend –
Williamsburg (VA), Jacksonville (FL), Honolulu (HI), Salado (TX) - which
my sister Jennie speaks highly of - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Monterey (CA),
Estes Park (CO), Balmoral, Scotland, and anywhere in Canada. There are
others I’d like to be a part of, but there has always been one I made sure
I avoided like the plague. For over 12 years, I succeeded staying away
from the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games (GMHG) until July of this
year.
There is a simple explanation. I had
always heard what great Games were put on at Grandfather Mountain with
huge crowds, fine hospitality and wonderful receptions, but the kicker was
the awful traffic jams getting up and down the mountain for the Games on
Saturday and Sunday. I have heard one, two and three hour traffic horror
stories by those who attended. I’m one of those drivers who will go 20
miles out of the way to keep from sitting in traffic for ten minutes.
Having heard the stories about how long it took to get up Grandfather
Mountain, I had vowed never to attend. Yet, I always wanted to go to that
mountaintop because of the good things I had heard over the years about
GMHG. Deep down, the Grandfather Games were at the top of the list of
games I’d like to attend but knew I never would because of the traffic.
Then something happened.
This past March, while speaking at the
Scottish Heritage Symposium on the campus of St. Andrews College in
Laurinburg, NC, the Games at Grandfather Mountain came up. I mentioned I
had never been because of the awful traffic problems associated with the
Games and my phobia about traffic jams.
Little did I know that was about to
change! This is when I met Ross Morrison and Frank Vance. They
immediately spoke up and let me know that Susan and I were invited to the
upcoming Games in July as their guests. Not knowing who they were or their
connection to Grandfather, I later asked Bill Caudill, the very talented
and award-winning piper in charge of the Scottish Heritage Center at St.
Andrews College, about the two men. He informed me that Ross Morrison was
President and Frank Vance was General Manager of GMHG. Big cheese, no
less!
I didn’t really think much about it
until some months later when a big envelope appeared in the mail bearing
the “Chieftain Patron” package they had sent us to be their guests. I was
between a rock and a hard place. I didn’t want to appear ungrateful, and I
didn’t want to sit in traffic two hours up and two hours down the mountain
both days. Susan, my better half, (listen up men, there are many reasons
they are our better halves), let me know in no uncertain terms that two
hour traffic or not, we would honor the invitation of Ross and Frank. I
went off muttering and wishing I had never heard that old saying that we
do not bite the hand that feeds us.
For you old hands at attending the
Grandfather Mountain Games, this is an all too familiar story from here on
in. We made our way to North Carolina with a stop for lunch at the French
Quarter Café in Black Mountain, just outside Asheville. Do yourself a
favor and put this place on your “to do” list while in that area of North
Carolina.
Thursday night saw many events, but the
Torchlight Ceremony was simply awe-inspiring. A huge thunderstorm popped
up during the ceremony, however, as the clan representatives were lighting
their torches, but the ceremony progressed through a huge downpour. When
lightning started flashing and lighting up the sky all too frequently,
someone in the Clan Chattan tent mentioned that she felt for those guys on
the field because they were not only getting soaked, but also they were
holding metal torches as lightning flashed all around. It was very
dangerous for the torch-bearing clan representatives who were determined
to make this a spectacular show. Then, it dawned on me - I was sitting
on a metal chair! I spontaneously got out of the chair and moved my
fanny to a safer place in a faster than normal fashion.
We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Boone
and found that room costs (gouging) were similar to those charged while
attending the Augusta National. Friday was a glorious day weather wise, as
was the whole weekend after Thursday night’s stormy affair. That morning
we wandered around beautiful downtown Boone for an hour or so, found the
Row By Row Bookshop (great name!) and bought a couple of books
about Robert Burns.
By staying in Boone, we opted to travel
the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Games, a decision we never regretted. Even
with restricted speed limits of 35 and 45 mph, we made good time. The
traffic jams must have been on the other side of the mountain because we
had none. Having a “come and go parking sticker” was a big help. The
remainder of our day consisted of watching more game events, visiting
friends at the various clan society tents, and having a great lunch of
“Susan’s World Famous Chicken Salad” that she made for the trip. We were
then off to find some homemade ice cream and seeing as much as we possibly
could of everything that was going on. Scots know how to celebrate the
simple things in life with or without a wee dram or two.
Friday night we attended a rip-roaring
reception for Patrons and Sponsors at the Broyhill Center on the
Appalachian State University campus in Boone. Whatever accolade one could
use to describe this event - wonderful, the best ever, or mighty good - go
ahead and use all three and add any other that you can think of because it
was as good as it gets. The buffet tables were flush with numerous and
tasty heavy hors d’oeuvres, and the water of life was in abundance. We
were able to commandeer a table in the back of the ballroom and enjoyed
our food and drinks, the fellowship with friends, old and new, and, after
the Scottish music was concluded, there was a wee bit of dancing to some
“oldies but goodies”. I even did a number or two after ample coaxing from
my wife.
Saturday morning dawned all too early
for some of us after the night before, but it was cool and refreshing on
top of the mountain, just what we needed to get the day off to a good
start. I doffed my hat to those running from downtown Boone to the top of
Grandfather Mountain. Yes, some ran, some jogged, some walked, and a lot
of them did all three. I can still say, though, that I have never seen a
happy, smiling face participating in one of these events! One guy
directing traffic spotted my Furman University windbreaker as we waited
for some runners to pass and let me know he liked everything I was wearing
except the FU jacket. I figured he was an App State man and replied that
his team had beaten our team a few times, too. People keep forgetting that
Furman has only 2,500 students.
That morning we made sure we went over
to hear Carl Peterson perform. I just had to hear his rendition of how
Santa Anna was killing our boys at the Alamo so - as Santa Anna put it –
Texas would always remember the Alamo. And, by God, Texas and the other
soldiers did just that! I spent a good bit of time visiting Ward Weems and
Rennie McLeod at their book tents picking up a few books for my Scottish
library. My, how time slips away at a great games’ site, sun shining
brilliantly with a cool, crisp breeze blanketing the mountaintop.
Other than at Pleasanton, I’ve never
seen so many events at a game site. There was so much to see and enjoy at
these Games. Most games have different venues for the events, but
Grandfather has more in the center of the huge field than any I have ever
seen. It was like being at a three-ring circus, sitting in the middle
ring. Frank and Ross proved to be great hosts. On Saturday, Frank invited
us to walk the grounds with him, and I wondered how on earth he kept up
with everything the way so many people stopped him with their questions,
comments, suggestions, a complaint or two thrown in (after all, we are
Scots) and the numerous pages he received on his telephone.
Before you knew it, it was time to pack
up for the drive back to Atlanta on Sunday. As we made our way down the
mountain, we discussed the pros and cons of the Games. The former far
exceeded the latter. No contest! My old fear of traffic jams never
materialized, and I guess the old wives’ tales about the traffic are just
that. GMHG are going to be hard to beat by any Game, anywhere. You
couldn’t ask for two better people to be in charge than Ross Morrison and
Frank Vance.
The book, Cold Mountain,
will be out as a movie starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law on Christmas
Day. Charles Frazier’s book is now a classic Civil War odyssey. It is one
of my favorite stories of all time, not just another favorite Civil War
story. It appeals to me because it is about a man who only wanted one
thing after being caught up in deadly combat one time too many - to go
back to where he had been before the war. As I write this, looking back on
the Games just six weeks ago, I can tell you unequivocally that the
Grandfather Mountain Highland Games of 2004 are already tugging at the
heartstrings. If I may borrow the line above about Cold
Mountain, we are already making plans to go back where we have
been. That is what we want and, like Jude Law, the main male character in
the movie, that is what we will do! Thanks, Ross and Frank. See you on the
mountain next July. (9-2-2003)
First photo: L-R: Ross Morrison (President,
GMHG), Dr. Ron McGowan (Chairman, GMHG), Frank Shaw, Frank Vance (General
Manager, GMHG)
Second photo: Anne Caudill with young son, Daniel
First photo: L-R: Dr. and Mrs. John (Anita)
Deegan, President, St. Andrews College, Laurinburg, NC
Second photo: Mr. and Mrs. Fred (Cindy) Shaw, Clan Chattan USA Trustee
and Convener
First photo: Frank and Susan Shaw
Second photo: Kate and Richard Graham |
