JasperAlabama

Highland Games and Irish Festival
Jasper, Alabama

Saturday, April 29 was a beautiful day in Jasper Alabama! Especially if you were Scottish and/or Irish. The festival featured booths set up by several clans with friendly people wearing their family tartans, eager to talk about their heritage. Sounds of bagpipes, flutes, drums and that Celtic brogue were every where.

The Jasper Hospitality started at the entrance gate.

Mayor Don Goetz has reason to be proud of Jasper.

Guest of Honor

William Kay Cummings, Sr.

Kay Cummings is the founder and President of Southeast Scottish Amateur, Inc. He has personally introduced dozens of athletes to his passion for the Scottish athletics.

Kay Cummings is the North-American chieftain of Clan Cummings and has been instrumental in the founding of many Games in the Southeast with his personal support and direction

You could get a "taste of Scotland

Do you see that word "Haggis"?

Your Reporter.......
about to try Haggis....	tasting Haggis...	trying to swallow Haggis!!!!

The entertainment was wonderful also: Irish and Scottish folk music , singers and dancers.

Mary Dougherty, founder of the Birmingham School of Celtic Arts and a young student.


	With many apologizes to the owners, I have neglected to get pictures of the beautiful Scottish terriers. If anyone has a picture they would like to share please email us a copy.

Highland Games
	Sheaf Toss uses a bale of straw in a burlap bag and a three tined hay fork to toss it over a bar. The sheaf weighs between 17 and 20 pounds.

	Weight Toss for Height with the 56 pound weight. This is a toss for height using one hand and a bar like that used for pole vaulting to measure the height attained.


	The Caber Turn. A caber is a tree from 16 to 22 feet long which may weigh as much as 130 pounds. The athlete stands the caber on its small end and then picks it up and hurls it forward with a spinning motion. The object of this event is not distance but accurate "turning" of the caber to land at exactly the 12 o'clock position. This is a very difficult event in which both strength and skill are necessary.

The atmosphere was almost..... magical ... giving us of Celtic ancestry a glimpse of our heritage. The tartans and crest proudly displayed and worn, Clans sharing the history of their families, the dancing, the sounds of brogue and bagpipes...Yes, a touch of Ye Ole Country.....

...In Jasper, Alabama

Thanks Jasper,
this proud member of the
Sutherland Clan
had a wonderful time!!!

Many thanks to Pauline for coming to Jasper and putting such wonderful
pictures of our Jasper Highland Games and Irish Festival on April 29th out
on the web.  The pictures were fantastic and truly caught the "flavor" of
the day (the flavor not being haggis).  The committee and the City of Jasper
thank you very much for the incredible coverage.

Sincerely,

Susan Cleghorn
Jasper Highland Games and Irish Festival Committee