Kelowna Scottish Country Dancers
NEWSLETTER 2014
​FALL FLING - 2014
Thirty-six eager dancers attended the Fall Fling at the Okanagan Centre, Winfield, on Saturday afternoon, November 8, and a fun time was had by all! Hosted by Vernon Scottish Country Dancers, it was an entertaining afternoon of dancing and socializing.
Scottish country dancers travelled from Kelowna, Naramata, Nelson, Penticton, Vernon, and as far away as Whitehorse to attend the event.
Vernon's program included easier dances such as "Nice to See You" and "Miss Margaret Bryson" as well as some challenging dances like "The Crystal Quaich" and "Miss Johnstone of Ardrossan". With more experienced dancers helping out newer dancers a pleasant and enjoyable time was guaranteed for all.
The program was led by Ruth Hurst and what an excellent job Ruth did! She was unshakeable amid the chatter of the dancers and provided excellent instruction as well as adding humour into her program.
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Fourteen dancers from KSCD attended. Thank you to all who participated!
Pictured above LtoR: Ian Gilmour, Fred Stephen and Garry Hodgins from Kelowna Club.
Congratulations to Naramata Scottish Country Dancers who celebrated their 10th anniversary.
The NSCD also provided their own anniversary cake as shown. It was very yummy.
St. Andrew's Night Celebration - November 25, 2014
Kelowna members enjoyed an evening of dancing, singing and socializing to celebrate the anniversary of St. Andrew, patron saint of Scotland. Our evening started with the well-known dance "The Gay Gordons". There was no one sitting this dance out as everyone was able to join in this "round the room" dance. We also enjoyed "Snowdrops in the Glen", "Kendall's Hornpipe", and "Friendships". Thank you to Shelagh for organizing the dance agenda.
History of St. Andrew
A brief history of St. Andrew was presented by Ian Gilmour. St. Andrew never actually lived in Scotland! However, his bones were interred at the site that is named after him. As history relates, on the day of a great battle, a Pictish king saw a Saltire, an X-shaped cross, appear in the sky above the battlefield, giving the Picts hope -- they became victorious in battle. The Saltire, or Saint Andrew’s Cross, was subsequently adopted as the national emblem and flag of the Scots.
Getting ready for the singsong!
Handouts provided, voices tuned up, and a rousing chorus of "The Song of the Clyde" filled the air followed by such songs as "Jist a Wee Doch an' Doris", "The Northern Lights", "By Yon Bonnie Banks" and more.
Aye, does the hert guid!
Maggie Gilmour and Fred Stephen led the singing and were accompanied on the piano by Gilbert Doull. Great job!
Socialising and Eating!
Oh my, what delightful goodies members enjoyed after all that dancing and singing. Sweet and savoury yummies. No one went home with an empty stomach, that's for sure! No photographs here -- to protect the innocent!
NEWSLETTER 2015
A Burns Supper is a celebration of the life and the poetry of the national bard of Scotland, Robert Burns. Burns suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January.
Click Wikipedia for more information on Robert Burns.
Kelowna Scottish Country Dancers Group held their Burns' Nicht on January 27 at Chartwell Clubhouse. A great time was had by those in attendance. Thank you to everyone for providing an excellent array of food and a great haggis!
A huge thank you to Shelagh and Garry for providing the venue again this year and all that it entailed to get the place ready for the Nicht. And to those talented folks who entertained us during the evening - job well done! Everything went off smoothly and attendees enjoyed eating, singing and dancing - in that order!
Left to Right: Elspeth, Rabbie, Karen, Maggie, Shannon and Shirley
Noteable Works:
Auld Lang Syne
A Man’s a Man for a’ That
Scots Wha’ Hae
Ye Banks and Braes
Ae Fond Kiss
Robert Burns
25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796
Address to the Haggis
Fred Stephen presented the "Address to the Haggis" and enjoyed a wee whisky afterwards. By the end of the week...well what can I say? A lot of haggis was enjoyed and a lot of whisky was drunk! Check out the video!
Introducing the Display Team
The Display Team dancers were hard at work during the Burns' week celebrations.
The residents of Kelowna Retirement Communities as well as Peachland Seniors Centre were treated to some "gey fyne" Scottish country dancing from the KSCD Display Team.
Left to Right:
Shelagh, Garry,
Gwen, Fred,
Louise, Ian,
Jan, and David.
NEWSLETTER 2016
2016 NEWSLETTER - HIGHLIGHTS
Scottish country dancing is an excellent way to keep active, learn basic Scottish dance patterns and formations, make new friends and spend time socializing. You will also enjoy dancing to superb Scottish music!
What you do need? Just a pair of soft-soled shoes. What do you get? A lot of fun, new friends, some mental and physical exercise (not too much!) We look forward to seeing members and friends... we look forward to seeing you!
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Christmas Social and last event of 2016!
Twenty dancers turned up for our last social event of 2016! Thanks to all who braved the cold weather to take a turn or two on the dance floor, to sing a few Christmas songs and carols and to enjoy the goodies for the social part of the evening. (Don't worry...no singing photos...och!)
St Andrew's Night Celebration!
What a great night on Thursday, November 24, 2016 when KSCD celebrated the anniversary of St. Andrew, patron saint of Scotland (official date November 30). Dancers were on the floor and rarin’ to go by 7 p.m. and what a splendid programme there was - thank you Karin. Whew that’s a lot of jiggin’!
Dancing was followed by a short discourse from Ian: “Who was St. Andrew?” which provided some insight into the life and times of the man and how he came to be Scotland’s patron saint.
Jan and Maggie led the singing (aided by a karaoke) and our dancers sang with gusto! Gems such as “I Belong to Glasgow”, “Loch Lomond”, “The Northern Lights”, “I Love a Lassie” and “Keep Right on to the End of the Road”
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​The evening ended with social time while enjoying delicious snacks provided by members (very yummy).
Fall Fling - A Great Success!
Thirty-two dancers enjoyed an afternoon of merriment at the Vernon hosted Fall Fling at the Okanagan Centre on Saturday, November 5, 2016
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Feet dancing and tapping to the music, dancers talking and socialising. What a great bunch of people!
Our thanks go out to the ladies who provided a wonderful lunch. And special thanks to Ruth Hurst who took us through many walk-throughs with ease and a pleasing disposition (except for the train wreck...lol).
Fall Fling - sorry no dancing photos...
the photographer was too busy dancing!
SURPRISE JIM!
Helping Jim MacLean celebrate his 86th birthday on Nov 17
Fred's 75th Birthday
- November 3, 2016
A few members took the opportunity to remind Fred of how young he is.
We gave him a couple of rounds of "Happy Birthday" and "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"!
Kudos to Sue for supplying the cake!
Birthday Fun
3rd Annual Okanagan Military Tattoo
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A musical extravaganza of pipers, drummers, musicians, military bands, marching troops, multicultural dancers and singers of all ages brought together in an action packed, non-stop, choreographed two-hour event. Featuring over 500 performers from all over North America paying tribute to our military past and present.
Courtesy of OMT
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A number of KSCD members from Kelowna and Vernon attended this wonderful event on July 25 (Shelagh & Garry, Elspeth & Gilbert, Ruth & Ken, Nina & Angus, Maggie & Ian, Joan & Henry). We enjoyed a splendid show from the performers and certainly got our “Bagpipe Fix” when the British Columbia Dragoons, Kalamalka Highlanders along with other pipers and drummers played Auld Lang Syne and Amazing Grace. There was not a dry eye in the arena!
An international flavour was provided by the Korean Military Traditional Band and we watched in awe the choreography and song that was quite simply breath-taking! Alberta’s own Calgary Stampede Band of Outriders was awesome to the max! What a great bunch of young folk.
Other entertainment was provided by OMT dancers: these young ladies executed some pretty amazing footwork. Wonderful afternoon’s entertainment.
Heather Ball, Vancouver
On March 19, five members (Shelagh, Garry, Maggie, Ian, and Karin) attended the Heather Ball in Vancouver. What a fabulous time we had. A live band, Glencraig, came all the way from Scotland to play for us (nae kiddin') and they had us up dancing until 11:30 p.m. (The Royal Deeside Railway Reel, Major Ian Stewart, Miss Gibson’s Strathspey, City of Stirling, to name a few) .
Open House and Social - September 22, 2016​
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What a great night we had at our annual Open House on September 22. Twenty-four dancers, including some past members, danced the night away to great music supplied by Karin Wagstaff. Karin did a fabulous job of instructing the class, too. Don'tcha just love those jigs?
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We also enjoyed the pipes from a surprise piper David Fowler. Those pipes really helped warm us up. David played a great jig as well. Stirring stuff!
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Thank you to everyone for coming out and enjoying a great night and a big thanks to those who provided the yummy goodies.