Please note that on Monday March 20 and Monday April 24, Macpherson School will be closed. We will hold our classes at Gower St. United Church (near the Anglican Cathedral), starting at 7:45 p.m. as usual. Parking is available around the Church. We will have more space there and this will be a trial to see if we would like to dance there permanently from September onwards. Because so many public holidays fall on a Monday and the school is closed, we are losing dance nights. If we like Gower St. Church this will take care of the problem.
Children's class. Wednesday March 15 is the starting date. Penny will hold classes each Wednesday for 6 weeks at St. David's Church. Call her for further details.
Family Night Social will be held at Vanier School on Saturday April 8, starting at 7 p.m. All dancers are invited and please bring along any children, grandchildren, etc. Easy dances will be taught.
Advance Notice. We are planning a workshop for August 3-4-5, 2001.
The Burns' Supper held on January 22 was a great success. It was the first time I (Brenda) had attended and I was very impressed. It was lovely to see so many beautifully attired ladies, many in long gowns, and gentlemen resplendent in their kilts.
Over 200 people were present to see the haggis piped in by Jim Sharp and carried by Bruce Shawyer. The address to the haggis was given by Stewart Gillies.
The City of St. John's Pipe Band entertained us at length and apparently they had a number of their younger members playing in public for the first time at this event. There was also an impressive performance by the drummers of "The Drummers Fanfare."
Dinner, including plenty of haggis, was followed by the toasts. Incidentally, we had the "haggis lady," Jennifer Whitfield, on our table and she told me she had made 300 lbs. of haggis this year for Burns' suppers around the Province.
The toasts were all entertaining but the one which everyone will remember, and which received a standing ovation, was the Toast to Newfoundland, given in verse, by Moyra Buchan.
After each toast, our demonstration team performed a dance or dances which were relevant to the toast. This was the first time Martin and Noreen had organized it this way and it broke up the speeches without detracting from them. For instance, after the Toast to Scotland, our dancers danced "From Scotia's Shores We're Noo Awa" which recalls the innumerable poignant leave takings as Scots depart their native shores to settle in far away lands.
Corryvreckan played for our dancers, as they did for the whole evening, and very impressive playing it was. We, as a group, are so lucky to have our own band.
I particularly enjoyed our dancers' first performance which was 3 consecutive dances with no break between - a jig, a strathspey and a reel. This could not have been easy, either for the dancers or for Corryvreckan with the change of tempo, but it went perfectly.
Martin and Noreen led the general dancing to the music of Corryvreckan for about an hour. The floor was crowded with very enthusiastic dancers who were determined to get into the spirit of things. A great evening was had by all, thanks to very many people, and particularly, in my mind, and of course I'm not biased, to our own Scottish country dancers (demo. team and others) who helped non-dancers really enjoy themselves. Noreen and Martin, you did a great job and I encourage many more of our group to come along next year.
Glenbrook Lodge. About 24 dancers, including children, helped the residents celebrate Burns' Night. Michael piped in the haggis which was carried by essie Lister and a short address was given by Stewart. Neil Smith sang a couple of Scottish songs and a good time was had by all. The residents are so grateful to our group taking time to be with them and we always enjoy being there.
The Demo. Team performed well at St. David's Church recently. It was a very well attended fundraising event and we were happy to contribute to it.
They also performed at MacDonald Drive Elementary School on Friday afternoon, February 25 to help celebrate "Grandparents Day." They were invited to lunch with 94 children and many grandparents. A number of residents from Glenbrook Lodge were there, invited as adopted grandparents for some children. The school has a large gym so space was not a problem.
Noreen led the proceedings, explaining the origin of the dances performed. The team was applauded before they danced, as well as after. As Noreen told the children, "this is a first." The children performed Virginia Reel which they had learned, and Noreen taught them two dances, one of which, "The MacDonald Jig," she had written and dedicated to the students. Bruce Shawyer will put it into the appropriate form and it will be given to the school.
The other dance was "Rabbie's Reel" from Book 40. Some of the children interpreted this as "Rabbi's Reel," maybe due to the Scottish accent, who knows? It gave us a good laugh later.
A couple of dancers attended, in addition to those performing, and Noreen wishes to thank them and the demo. team for the help given when the children were dancing. We were able to have one dancer monitoring each set of eight children which helped to prevent possible chaos.
The children (grade 5) were very attentive and well behaved and obviously thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We have been invited to perform next year and are pleased that we can contribute to the community in this way.
Congratulations are in order to Martin Mulligan who is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award. The President's Awards for Distinguished Teaching recognize the teaching excellence in the university community.
He is held in high esteem by his students and uses computers and the Web to bring molecular biology and genetics to life for them. He was the first professor in the Biochemistry department to use the Web as a teaching aid. Along with being an exceptional teacher, Martin is also a noted researcher.
He is the undergraduate deputy head of Biochemistry and spends a lot of time helping students with academic concerns and course planning.
His commitment to students has earned him the Biochemistry Society Award for Dedication in Teaching in 1997 and the Biochemistry Society Prof. of the Year Award in 1999. The fact that these awards are given by the undergraduate student society shows just how much he is respected by the students of the department.
The RSCDS of St. John's congratulates you, Martin. You must be a great teacher at MUN and we are delighted to see you get such an honour.
Caring and Sharing. We have recently heard from Jason and Robin who are now in Guelph and also Sheila in Calgary. They have all joined Scottish country dance groups but do miss ours. They send their best wishes to everyone.
Bagpipe Gags
If you took all the bagpipes in the world and laid them end to end - it would be a good idea.