1975: The first recorded meeting of the `Delegates' of what was to become CLANS AND SCOTTISH SOCIETIES OF CANADA was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 21 Avenue Road, The York Room, on Wednesday 22 October 1975 called by John H. Macdonald. `John H.' had been Secretary of a group known as The Scots Federation of Ontario which dated back to 23 March 1965. Many of us had been involved with this loosely slung group through the Information Booth for the Scottish World Festival (begun in 1972) at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) Toronto.

At that October meeting, Donald C. R. Campbell acted as Chairman with Mary C. Garrett as Secretary. The Steering Committee named were: Edith Warner, Colin MacDonald, Jock McLeod, George MacMillan, Andrew MacNeill, Rudd McPhee, John MacLean and John Peden. Attending that very first meeting were folks from Clans: Campbell, Donald, MacLeod, McCaughan, MacNeil, Munro, MacLean, MacPhee, MacMillan, as well as from the Sons of Scotland, Caledonian Society of Scarborough, Cairngorm Club, Canadian Association of Scottish Studies, Fraoch Eilean Canadian Foundation and the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Donald C. R. Campbell was named Chair of the Steering Committee and they met on November 10, 17, December 12, and January 12, 1976 and developed a provisional constitution and a slate of Officers.

1976: Donald called the first meeting of Delegates for 29 January 1976 , again at the Hyatt Regency. Groups added at this meeting were: Toronto Scottish Regimental Association, Highland Dancers Association Ontario, Ladies Auxilliary to the Order of Scottish Clans, Easter Canada Highland Dancers Association, Uist and Barra Scots Association, Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, Daughters of Scotland, and Gaelic Society of Toronto.

The first Executive were:

At that January meeting a vote was taken to call the new organization, THE CLANS AND SCOTTISH SOCIETIES OF CANADA (CASSOC). Other names, such as `Scots Canada' were considered but it was hoped that one day CASSOC would become a `household term'. A good start was made that evening on reviewing the draft constitution and it was planned that we would have a newsletter with four issues a year. The newsletter was named An Drochaid by Andrew MacNeill and the Gaelic translation is `The Bridge', linking Scots from Scotland to Canada and back. Mary C. Garrett was named the Editor. The first issue was May 1976 and it featured The Kirkin' o' the Tartan.

On 29 April 1976 ,the next meeting was held at the Fort York Armoury in the Toronto Scottish Officers' Mess. At this meeting it was announced that we would have the hospitality of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, King and Simcoe Streets, Toronto , in a suite of rooms on the third floor of the old Institute Building at 75 Simcoe St . This was great news! This was our home until the building came down in 1987.

FIRST KIRKIN': On 20 June 1976 at St. Andrew's, we held our first Kirkin' o' the Tartan with the Rev. Dr. William J. Morris, Minister of St. Mungo Cathedral in Glasgow, and he brought greetings from the Duke of Argyll, Lord MacLean, Fraser of Lovat, Dame Flora MacLeod and Lachlan MacIntosh of MacIntosh. It was a morning service and the Hon. Pauline McGibbon, Lt-Governor of Ontario , was our special guest. Afterward refreshments were served on the lawns outside the church.

THE CNE INFORMATION BOOTH FOR SCOTS: Many of the Clans took part in the four days of the Scottish World Festival: MacLeod, Munro, Ross, MacLean, MacNeil, Campbell , MacPhee, OGS Toronto Branch, Fraoch Eilean, Sons of Scotland, Ladies Aux. To the Order of Scottish Clans and the Cairngorm Club. At the Festival Ball held in August on 1976, the Sons of Scotland presented CASSOC with at cheque for $500.00!

A CABARET AND DANCE: was held on 25 September at the Metro Police Association Hall on Yorklands BIN., d in North York. A grand time was had by all groups who attended.

CHAPLAIN: On 14 October 1976, Rev. Dr. Douglas Stewart officially became our Protestant Chaplain.

THE FIRST ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY (AGA) held in November 1976 reported 31 paid members during that year and a successful year it was. The membership fee was $20.00 and at year end we had a phone line and an answering machine (donated by George MacMillan) which was still in use in 1986! Of the 31 Member Groups, 27 were represented at that Annual General Assembly.

Member Groups for 1976: Cairngor n Club, Caledonian Society of Scarborough, Canadian Assn of Scottish Studies, Canadian Scottish Club of Whitby, Canadian Scottish Club of Willowdale, Daughters of Scotland, Donald Council Canada, Eastern Canadian Highland Dancers Assn, Fraoch Eilean Canadian Foundation, Gaelic Society (Toronto), Halton Peel St. Andrew's Society, Highland Dancers Association of Ontario, Lorne Scots, OGS Toronto Branch, Ladies Aux to Order of Scottish Clans, Royal Scottish Country Dancers, Sons of Scotland, Toronto Scottish Regimental Assn, Uist and Barra Assn, and Clans Campbell, Ferguson, McCaughan, MacLean, MacLeod, MacMillan, MacNeil, MacPhee, Munro, Ross and Sinclair.

1977: The Executive members remained the same. Committee changes were:

Public Relations: Colin MacDonald
Membership and Communication: Mary C. Garrett
Resources and Finance: Donald 'Beag' Campbell
Highland Games: Fred Gardiner
Social: Neil Gray
Members at Large: Edith Warner, Charles Bryson, C.C. `Bud' Munroe
Honourary Officials: Dr. Douglas Stewart — Protestant Chaplain
Monsignor Percy S Lacy — Roman Catholic Chaplain
John MacDonald (Metro Toronto Police Pipe Band) — Honourary Piper
Norman MacKenzie (Sr Drum Major Toronto Scottish) — Honourary Drum Major

On 27 February 1977, we enjoyed the first Heritage Ball at the Toronto Hotel (now the Westin) with Lord Elgin as the Guest of Honour.

A Gaelic Mod was held at St. Andrew's Presbyterian in April. Competitions were held for young and old in choirs, soloists, duets, reading and instrumentalists. The Gaelic Society is one of the earliest and most active members.

We were saddened to have lost one of our early `stars' of CASSOC. Walter McFadyen of the Sons of Scotland died in September — at only 50 years of age!

On 30 November 1977 ,the CASSOC Constitution was ratified. New members that year were Clan Matheson and the Toronto Caithness Association.

1978: Donald Mhor Campbell was still Chair and we added Charles Bryson as Social Convenor and Angus Ferguson and Jim MacLean came on as Edith Warner and Bud Munroe went off.

The Duke of _Argyll and Macleod of MacLeod were now Scottish Patrons of CASSOC.

New Members for 1978: Assn of Scottish Tradition and Arts (ASTA), Clan Cameron Ontario Branch, 78th Fraser Highlanders, Grey Bruce Scottish Club, London Burns, Toronto Black Watch, Clan Wallace, and a corresponding member — Clan Fraser of North America.

The Second Heritage Ball was held 10 February 1978 at Hotel Toronto. This was a Vice-Regal affair with the Lt. -Governor of Ontario ,the Hon. Pauline McGibbon and Mr. McGibbon as honoured guests. 1977 had been the Silver Jubilee Year for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip and there were medals awarded in several areas. CASSOC was given three of these medals and they were given to those whose positions exemplified our aims of co-ordination and communication. Sylvia McPhee received a medal as Executive Secretary, Fred Gardiner received one as Highland Games Co-ordinator, and Mary C. Garrett received one as Editor of An Drochaid. These silver medals were presented to the recipients by the Hon. Pauline McGibbon at the Heritage Ball. Members of the Executive were presented to HRH Prince Philip at the Royal Canadian Military Institute (just north of the hotel) prior to the Ball.

A CASSOC lapel pin was designed for members and it sold for $2.50 each.

At the Kirkin' on 11 June 1978 , we were to have blessed our new CASSOC standard designed by John MacLean. But since it was not ready for that day, a substitute was made by Donald Mhor's family and it was indeed blessed during the service. Later it was framed and hung in our suite. Later that year we had our new standard and still later, two more with poles and stands.

Also in June, ASTA was a prominent participant in Caravan, a yearly Multicultural celebration in Toronto, and they took the prize for their PERTH Pavilion.

A CASSOC picnic for all was held on 17 September at Doon Pioneer Village Highland Games in Kitchener. It was felt that the Clan displays brought in many participants and new members.

During the Scottish World Festival at the CNE, a Ceilidh was held at St. Andrew's which gave those who wished an opportunity to meet Honoured Guest, The Duke and Duchess of Hamilton and the Earl of Caithness and his lady.

At the AGA in November 1978, we had 39 members and we were printing 400 copies of the newsletter, An Drochaicl, for the membership.

1979: We began the year with a new Chair in the person of John MacLean of Richmond Hill, ON.

Jock McLeod became 1st Vice- Chair and Sylvia McPhee took on the 21 Vice position. Moira Ross became Executive Secretary and John Peden was Treasurer. John H. Macdonald became Public Relations Convenor and other positions remained the same.

Our Letter Patent incorporating CASSOC were received 15 January 1979. The fee for membership became $30.00 also in January.

CASSOC was represented at many Highland Games during the summer, although many of the members were visiting Nova Scotia for the International Gathering of the Clans.

Another picnic was held 16 September at Fort York in Toronto for all Clans and Member Groups to attend.

On 20 October, the Heritage Ball was held at the Old Mill, with the Hon. Flora MacDonald as Special Guest. Flora danced up a storm and had many willing partners!

New Members for 1979 were:

Clan Colquhoun Assn of Canada
Fergus Chamber of Commerce
Rob Roy Pipe Band and Highland Dancers of Kingston
Clan Wallace Society
Zona Caledonian Society
Corresponding Members: Agnew Assn, Clan Fraser of North America, Murray Clan Society of North America

1980: Sylvia M. McPhee was elected to the Chair in January 1980. Charles Bryson was 1st Vice, John Peden Treasurer and Mary C. Garrett became Executive Secretary. Part-way through the year, Wilf Wallace became 2 Vice. Committee members were: Marjorie McLeod, Fred Gardiner, Norma Fraser, Gloria Ross, Alex Taylor, Jock McLeod and Col Gordon Leggett. Bill Cockburn became the Hon. Piper, Rev. Fr. Joseph McCormick became our R.C. Chaplain in June, and Lt-Governor Pauline McGibbon became our first Canadian Patron on 22 October.

On 15 March 1980, Sylvia McPhee was interviewed on Tom Milsop's MTV show and she talked about CASSOC's activities and history.

In April, we increase the publication of 4n Drochaid to 5 issues per year.

The Kirkin' o' the Tartan was held at St. Andrew's on 8 June with Rev. Prof. Charles Scobie of Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick, as special speaker.

In June, we received our new information brochure courtesy of Ballantynes.

There was a picnic for all on 14 September, again at Fort York in Toronto.

The Heritage Ball was held on 18 October at the Prince Hotel with the Hon Jim Fleming, Minister of State for Multiculturalism, as special guest.

New members in 1980 were: The Burns Society of Toronto, Clan MacDougall, St. Andrew's Society of Timmins and the University of Ottawa Celtic Chair.

1981: The Executive were: Sylvia M. McPhee, Chair; Wilf Wallace as 1st Vice; Cpt Grant Faraday (Toronto Scottish) as 2nd Vice; Norma Wildish Treasurer and Executive Secretary was Isobel Price.

A Ceilidh was held 3 April at North York Community Hall — a first such money-maker! ($1368.00)

There was a picnic for all at the home of Norma and Don Fraser who lived in Mississauga Rd on 13 September.

The Heritage Ball was held on 24 October at the Seaway Towers Motor Hotel with Lt. Gov. Pauline McGibbon and Mr. McGibbon along with Dr Herb and Ethel MacNeil, President of CGSCAI (USA), as special guests. We were shocked and saddened before the Ball was over because of the sudden death of John R. Chevalier McCaughan.

The Hon. Flora MacDonald became our second Canadian Patron during the year and we chose the Maple Leaf Tartan as the official tartan for CASSOC.

A motto for CASSOC was established — COMHLA ri CHEILE — Meaning `together with Accord'.

At the AGA on 27 November, the CASSOC wall plaque shields were introduced and sold for $40.00 to members and $50.00 to non-members.

New Member Groups were Clans: Currie, Gregor, MacKay, Matheson, and Murray, as well as Mod Ontario and Pipers and Pipe Bands of Ontario. Clan Graham was still a corresponding member.

1982: W. Stan Wright was in the Chair. Dr. Ken MacGregor was 1st Vice, with Cpt. Bill Bell as 2nd Vice. Norma Wildish was still Treasurer and Mary C. Garrett as Executive Secretary.

A Ceilidh was held on 1 May at Armour Heights Community Centre.

On 7 April, David I. Matheson, QC, became our Honourary Solicitor.

Mod Ontario was a grand success with Andrew Ogg winning the Lt. -Governor Award and he went to Portree on Skye to compete in the National Mod. Marlene Finnucan of Kingston won the CASSOC Walter McFadyen Award.

Updated CASSOC brochures (some 5000!) were donated by way of John Peden and John Noyes and Meaghers and were used for the following decade.

The Kirkin' o' the Tartan was held at St. Andrew's on 13 June at 3:00 p.m. Dr. Douglas Stewart was the speaker. Long tartan banners had been made by most clans to be used as decoration at Ceilidhs and Heritage Balls and they were dedicated at this Kirkin'.

We looked at a building on Lakeshore Rd (now the Army, Navy and Air Force) near the Boulevard Club. We could have had it for a `song' and it would have cost us about $51,000 for the first year to run it. There was not enough interest for the Clans didn't have the money! It had been a Shriner's Temple.

The Annual Heritage Ball was held 23 October at the Lakeshore Inn in the Confederation Ballroom.

In November, at the AGA, Rev. Dr. Bob Wallace became our Protestant Chaplain with Dr. Stewart as Honourary Protestant Chaplain. Also at the Annual Assembly, some development aims were proposed:

a. To establish a working capital of $100,000 with a reserve fund for specific projects, i.e. a Scottish Centre.
b. To consolidate an already well established Ontario base.
c. To establish a truly National organization for Canada

The Development fund stood at $4,530.57. There were 55 member groups on the roll.

1983: Dr. Ken MacGregor assumed the Chair with Cpt Bill Bell as 2nd Vice. Norma Wildish was Treasurer and Mary Garrett was Executive Secretary. Victoria Fraser became Editor.

On 23 April, we held a Spring Ceilidh at Earl Bales Community Centre with some 150 attending and we earned about $500.00.

There was a second International Gathering in Nova Scotia that summer with many of our clans attending.

The Confederation Ballroom at the Lakeshore Inn was again the scene of our Heritage all on 22 October.

1984: Dr. Ken MacGregor still in the Chair with Cpt. Bill Bell as 1st Vice and Alex Sim in second Vice position. Jim Hunter became Treasurer and Mary Garrett still Executive Secretary.

The Spring Ceilidh was held at Earl Bales Community Centre on 14 April and was another financial success ($368.74). The biennial Kirkin' was held on 10 Jun at 3 p.m. at St Andrew's. More changes were made to the Constitution.

The Heritage Ball was again held at the Lakeshore Inn on 20 October and again a great evening.

There were 54 members at Year End — we had gained a few and lost a few!

1985: Alex Sim (Sons of Scotland) became Chairman. Jim Hunter was first Vice and Don Ross became second Vice. Kay Kerr was Treasurer and Mary C. Garrett still Executive Secretary.

Some meetings in '85 were held at St Andrew's and the rest at Fort York Armoury.

A Spring Ceilidh was held at Armour Heights Community Centre on Saturday 20 April and was well attended.

We began again to talk about a proposed Cultural Centre for Scots. There was a new government program called C-FIP (Community — Facilities Improvement Program) that might be of help. CASSOC had to meet requirements and we could receive up to 50% of our needs. We had to raise the balance. Don Ross headed the Committee.

CASSOC took part in the Toronto Historical Fair at Toronto City Hall.

The Heritage Ball was held at the Skyline Hotel on 19 October.

At the AGA, we heard a first report from Don Ross re the proposed C-FIP program.

There were 57 members at year end.

1986: Alex Sim was Chair with Mary Garrett as 1st Vice. Don Ross was 2nd Vice. Kay Kerr still Treasurer and Grace Scott was Executive Secretary. Alex Sim did not arrive for the January Executive Meeting but did attend the January Assembly meeting. However, that was the last we saw of him and in May he resigned the position. Mary C Garrett was acting Chair.

A Ceilidh was held at Armour Heights Community Centre on 19 April.

At the Kirkin' on 8 June, Dr. Stewart was the speaker.

At the Heritage Ball on 25 October, held at the new Marriott (Dixon and Carlingview) we had as special guest John McDermott, the Parliamentary Secretary for Pat Carney of the Federal Cabinet. There were several glitches on the part of the hotel, but we had a nice evening and the hotel gave us a rebate for their errors.

At the AGA, we learned that, after several meetings with the government and our C-FIP committee, we did not have the application correct and the project was scrapped for us.

All Assembly Meetings were at Fort York Armoury courtesy of the Toronto Scottish Regiment.

1987: The year began with Mary Garrett as Chair and neither Vice position had been filled. Ian McGregor became Editor, Don Ross resigned the C-FIP committee and his 2nd Vice position. Lt. Col. Jim Parker of the Tor. Scots. assumed that role as well as becoming Chair of the C-FIP committee. But Jim Parker found it necessary to resign as well. The Executive called a special meeting to decide to put the feasibility study on the `back burner'. Then Grace Scott caught the `bug' and resigned as Executive Secretary in May.

Jeane Campbell did the recording during May and Carol Ann Woodworth became Executive Secretary in September. We had to leave St. Andrew's at the end of May because of the renovations and from then on we met at Victoria Royce Presbyterian Church (in the `Junction' area of Toronto).

The Spring Ceilidh was held again at Armour Heights Community Centre. Eldred Cook chaired a grand event and we showed a profit of $1,484.80.

It was decided that we would give Victoria Royce Presbyterian a sum of $300.00 for 1988 and the caretaker $50.00. In 1988, the CASSOC membership fee would be $50.00 and Colin Campbell became our Honourary Piper.

An Inventory was taken of the CASSOC `belongings" (furniture, files, cabinets and such) in our suite of rooms in St. Andrew's. These things had to be removed from the Institute building as it was being demolished for renovation. The Inventory was stored with the Treasurer.

The Heritage Ball was held at the Prince Hotel on 31 October. Emergency heart surgery for Murray Garrett had Stan Wright chairing the event instead of Mary Garrett. Her Honour, Pauline McGibbon and Donald McGibbon were special guests.

1988: Jim Waugh became Chairman, Stan Fleming 1st Vice, Bill McColl took on the Treasury and Ed Swinton became Executive Secretary. Jo Ann Tuskin became Editor of An Drochaid.

As we were now meeting regularly in Victoria Royce Presbyterian Church, it was decided to give them $100 for the use of the church since the previous September.

A Ceilidh was held at Earl Bales community Centre on 28 may. On June 12, the Kirkin' went off as usual with Mr Alastir Lorne Campbell the Younger of Airds as special guest and Dr. Bob Wallace from Rosedale United was the speaker.

On October 22nd, we held the Heritage Ball at a new venue - The Rameses Shrine on Dufferin Street in Downsview. The fee was $37.50 per person.

There was much ado with the Constitution and two members designed a new version and there was much discussion for the next several months.

1989: Jim Waugh stayed as Chair, the other Officers remained the same, and Jo Ann Tuskin became the Executive Secretary as well as the Editor.

In December of 1988, there was a terrible Pan .Am air disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland, and many lives were lost. CASSOC had a call on our telephone service asking the organization to take on a fund for the families of the Scottish victims. Jim Waugh, Stan Fleming, Jeane Campbell, Sylvia McPhee and Mary Garrett were immediately on the planning. With the Chartered Banks and the Canadian Red Cross we were able to present a cheque for $53,000. On 10 February 1989, we received a congratulatory letter for Argyll (one of our Scottish patrons) for our effort and also CASSOC was awarded a citation from the Canadian Red Cross for "outstanding efforts and leadership in co-ordinating disaster response activities through the Red Cross on behalf of the victims of the air disaster at Lockerbie, Scotland."

The Ceilidh in '89 was held at the Oriole Auditorium in the 'peanut' on Don Mills Road.

Although in 1986 the C/FIP project went awry, another committee was set up in '89 headed by Bob Duff with John MacLean, Bill McColl, and Jim Waugh. They did a very well-put-together questionnaire and had meetings with all heads of member organizations to determine what CASSOC wanted in the way of a cultural centre. In the end, it was decided that this was not within the means currently available.

The 13th Annual Heritage Ball was held 21 October at the Carlton Place Hotel, at Dixon Rd and Hwy 27. A raffle for a kilt gained us $1,265.52. Henry Shannon (radio personality from CFRB) was the Guest of Honour.

Stan Fleming, Chair of the Constitution committee, distributed copies of the revised paper on 18 October to review before it would go to the lawyer.

We heard from Nova Scotia that Tartan Day had been approved in their Provincial Legislature for April 6.

We purchased more CASSOC pins to sell. We now had 500 on hand for sale at $3.00 each.

1990: Jim Waugh agreed to take on a third year as Chair. There were no Vice Chairmen. Lloyd McNeil became Treasurer.

There was a problem getting into Victoria Royce for the January Executive meeting and we held a short meeting at the Library on Annette St across from the church.

In February, Neil Fraser agreed to take on the Constitution Committee.

Since the feasibility study was no more, some groups and/or individuals asked for their donation back and this had to be dealt with.

A Mr. Westcott of Richmond Hill gave some lovely books to CASSOC in return for a receipt for same in the amount of $150.00. These were received and were taken to the Church upper room (where the CASSOC items was stored). Among this collection were about ten books of Burns' poems.

At the March Assembly, it was moved, seconded and passed, that CASSOC would furnish St. Andrew's Church with a new board room table to commemorate the Church's contribution to the foundation of CASSOC and as a tribute from the Scottish Community we represent. The budgeted value of the table is $4200.00 which includes the cost of a suitably inscribed plaque and the applicable taxes. It was hoped that the Development fund would not be touched so that it would continue to grow for its original purposes, but that perhaps some of the monies withdrawn from the feasibility study might be turned back to the Table Fund.

On 30 May 1990, we returned to St Andrew's. Duncan Campbell chaired the 8th biennial kirkin' held June 10. the Honoured guests were The Hon. Flora MacDonald and Her Honour Pauline McGibbon - our two Canadian Patrons.

The Heritage Ball was held on 27 October at the Carlton Place Hotel. Henry Shannon was the Emcee and Dennis Snowdon and his wife Denise were the Guests of Honour.

Mod Ontario wrote to CASSOC that they were having some problems and some changes were being made regarding the Mod Event and they wanted to return to us the Walter McFadyen trophy. It was decided that the trophy would be given to Rhoda McRitchie for safe-keeping. Mrs. McRitchie was Mod President that year and the trophy was presented to her at the September Assembly.

Letters of appreciation were sent to the Honouraries for the services and requesting their desire to continue in the CASSOC family.

A suggestion was made to have an Archives committee struck to keep a history of CASSOC.

1991: Sylvia McPhee was elected as Chair; 1st Vice was Alene McNeill; 2nd Vice was Vince Gillon; Treasurer Stan Fleming; Mary Garrett Executive Secretary; Debbie Wilson Recording Secretary; Jo -Ann Tuskin Editor of An Drochaid.

The Annual Directory began to refer to a Board of Directors and Directors rather than Executive Officers and Executive.

In the Spring, we held several garage sales in different areas of Toronto and environs and we earned about $535.

Neil Fraser resigned in May and Debbie Wilson resigned in June.

We purchased 'Black's Surnames of Scotland' for use at Games instead of borrowing personal copies.

We named the 15th Annual Ball a Heritage Celebration and it was held at the Carlton Place Hotel, the Arbour Ballroom on 9 November.

Special Guests were Her Honour Pauline McGibbon and husband Donald and Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Stewart.

Gifts were given to Mary Garrett and Jim Waugh - both Past Chairs.

The St. Andrew's Board Room table had been chosen at a cost of $4,151.50.

Our RC chaplain, Father Joseph McCormick, resigned in May and Fr. Ed Jackman became the new Chaplain on 27 November at the AGA.

At the instigation of meetings with representatives of CASSOC, on 19 December a Private Member's Bill regarding Tartan Day on April 6 from MPP Bill Murdoch was given first reading.

1992: A New Chairman in Neil Fraser; Vince Gillon is 1st Vice; no second Vice; Stan Fleming Treasurer and Catherine MacLean became Executive Secretary.

Following the January Executive Meeting, Jo Ann Tuskin resigned as Editor. The March issue was done by Neil and Marie Fraser, May by Mary Garrett, and the next two by Ian McGregor. Catherine MacLean had begun to put the minutes onto her computer and had not yet finished. It was reported that some minutes were missing. In May, Bette Staley began as Recording Secretary.

On April 6, Tartan Day in Ontario was celebrated for the first time.

We leaned from Jean Watson of Nova Scotia (she had been responsible for getting the Day approved in NS) that all Canadian provinces, except for Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, were now celebrating Tartan Day.

The CASSOC phone number was changed to 416-593-0518.

In June, the revised constitution was found wanting by the solicitor and so we are back to the constitution as it was as of 1989.

Paul Federico chaired the Kirkin' on 21 June with Fr. Ed Jackman as speaker.

Our Heritage Ball was to have been held at the Novatel on 7 November, but was cancelled on 18 October for lack of ticket sales and insufficient dance floor space.

On 30 November, Sylvia McPhee co-ordinated an event on St. Andrew's Day by hosting a Citizenship Ceremony at the St. Clair and Yonge St. venue by providing a Scottish Tea to the 99 New Canadians from 29 countries around the World. Those helping were Margaret McLeod, Jim and Pat Waugh, Sylvia McPhee, Stan Fleming, Mary and Murray Garrett.

The report on membership in 1992 was 52 members.

1993: Chairman Neil Fraser; 1st Vice Vince Gillon; no 2nd Vice; Executive Secretary Ian McGregor, Treasurer George Graham and Marie Fraser Editor of An Drochaid.

On Friday 2 April, the Scottish Studies Foundation, one of CASSOC's member groups, picked up the CASSOC initiative and held the first Tartan Day Celebration Dinner. It was held at Casa Loma and they named Major General Lewis MacKenzie "Scot of the Year".

For some years, CASSOC has had a membership with Metro Area Heritage Groups and had participated in several special event days at Cumberland Terrace. This year, they began a Heritage Quilt and many quilters from the member groups participated by making a 10 x 10 inch block to represent their group. There were 46 blocks and four Metro Toronto Logos for the corners that were all sewn together and quilted. This was presented to the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto on Heritage Day 1993 and was hung in the lower level stairwell of the Metro Hall.

The Scottish Studies Foundation held a second Scots Harbourfront Festival with the celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the founding of York by Governor Simcoe. The Empire Sandy sailing ship again did a cruise on the lake.

There was a fine send-off for Prof. Ted Cowan, a long-time teacher of Scottish Studies, held at the University of Guelph in September as part of a Colloquium. Ted had accepted the Chair of History at the University of Glasgow.

The Canadian Association for Scottish Studies and the Scottish Studies Foundation have amalgamated.

Both the June and September Director's meetings were cancelled for lack of a quorum.

There had been no Ceilidh in 1993, nor was there a Heritage Ball.

It was reported that 59 member groups were paid up.

1994: Vince Gillon Chair, 1st Vice Bette Staley, Treasurer George Graham, Executive Secretary Ian McGregor.

It was learned that Dr. Bob Wallace would retire from Rosedale United in June and it was decided to give him a gift.

Vince Gillon and Jim Waugh made the presentation of the book, 'Black's Surnames of Scotland', in August, just before Dr. Wallace left for the Maritimes where he would spend time for the next two years at the Universities there as well as looking after a charge of the United Church.

There was only one issue of An Drochaid in 1994 since it was not until the Autumn that Alene McNeill agreed to take on the Editorship.

A Kirkin' was held on 20 November - another change in our tradition!

The new Protestant Chaplain Rev. Cameron Brett gave the address at the Kirkin'. Mr Brett was officially installed as our Chaplain at the AGA in November.

1995: Vince Gillon Chair, John H Macdonald 1st Vice, no 2nd Vice, Executive Secretary Ian McGregor, Alene McNeill Editor, no Treasurer.

CASSOC took part in the Heritage Showcase held in February at Sherway Gardens, and also in the British Show.

The brochure finally was finished in March.

At 6 April Assembly meeting, Ian McGregor volunteered to become the Executive Secretary/Treasurer with a recording Secretary to be appointed.

For Tartan Day in April, there was again a dinner and evening at Casa Loma by the Canadian Scottish Studies Foundation honouring Lloyd Robertson of CTV as Scot of the Year.

The Highland Games were pretty well covered each summer and especially during the terms of Vince Gillon. He had help but did a dandy job of getting people to help and to keep things on an even keel.

The British Show, Heritage Showcase and the Hobby Show were usually covered by various members of CASSOC.

1996: The chairman was John H Macdonald. "John H", as he was called in the early days of CASSOC, was one of the hard workers from the mid 60's with the earlier group of Scots who were the forerunners of CASSOC. If you read the beginning years of this history, John H was on hand for a year or so after our beginnings with Clan Donald (Toronto area) as well as the Fraoch Eilean Canadian Foundation.

Neil Fraser became Executive Secretary/Treasurer with Grace Bird taking on the Recording Secretary's job. There were no Vice Chairs and Alene McNeill remained as Editor of An Drochaid.

At the Assembly Meeting in September, it was decided that the An Drochaid would be cut back to one copy per member group to cut the cost on postage and paper.

There were many Scottish events held in Scarborough for their 200th year celebrations.

A Ceilidh was held at the Sergeant's Mess at Moss Park Armoury for the membership in conjunction with the Assembly Meeting on 28 September.

It was reported that the Scottish Studies Foundation had another sail on the Empire Sandy on a wet September 8.

The 20th Annual General Assembly was held in November.

Read more about them at http://www.cassoc.ca/

2023

https://www.scotscanada.ca/en/

We represent our members at games and festivals that we attend through the display of a poster for each member organization. This poster provides basic information with a QR Code/URL link to a page with more details and specific contact info. The display has proven to be very popular with event visitors as well demonstrably works for bringing new members to an organization.

In 2023 CASSOC will be attending over a dozen games and events in Canada and the USA.

In addition to our physical presence at the events, we also provide a binder for our members to display at their own booths with the equivalent image of the poster for each of our members.

The binder is available at
https://www.scotscanada.ca/CASSOC_Binder_Poster_Format.pdf

The poster display and binder provide representation for our members at events even when they are not in attendance themselves.

At the events we’re attending, we will also help booth visitors research their names and find which clan or family they may belong to. This has been very successful and popular with our results often helping us direct the visitor to one of our member organizations.

In addition to the above, we also produce a quarterly newsletter for our members to distribute. It is also made available on our scotscanada.ca website.

CASSOC currently has a member activity funding program wherein we will contribute limited matching funds for a member's support/participation in a non-profit event to support Scottish Culture and Heritage.

We founded and continue to sponsor the CASSOC Scottish Studies Graduate Bursary at the University of Guelph and we welcome other opportunities to provide like sponsorship.

CASSOC is an ongoing contributor and participant in the Scottish North America Community Conference being held this coming December.

To improve support for our members, we're now in planning for an online/hybrid Symposium for Growth and Success series starting in October of this year. With it, we will be addressing the many challenges we're all dealing with as cultural heritage organizations.

About Membership:

Memberships are annually based aligned with CASSOC’s fiscal year of September 1 to August 31. The current membership fee is $50 CAD. During the festival season starting each May, we start memberships immediately with the membership then being valid through the next fiscal year. This means that any new membership from May 2023 onward is valid until September 2024.

Lastly, CASSOC recognizes that there are many of those of Scottish heritage who may not be able to belong to a clan, family or society. We’re are examining the different ways in which this may be corrected. Perhaps even by allowing some form of individual membership within CASSOC itself.