No joy without this Clan

                   Ron MacDonald & Ira Young

Ira Young dropped by our tent at Newport Celtic Festival, him being the former State Commissioner for the state of Idaho. He graciously sent me this poem he had written:

No joy without this Clan

 I talk to you of honor

From a time long past
When our fathers from the old land
Gave all to the very last

 Some were not so lucky

They were moved to distant shores
Others gave their lives
In midst the fog and gore

 I often think of how they fought

And lived without complaints
With hardships, loves lost and won
No single thought of can’t

 We’ve conquered past and present

To move us through this world
Our family close and distant
Is our finely polished pearl

We are the sprigs of Domhnaill

Where we plant we grow
With our faith in kin and God
We reap the good we sow

 When I’m laid to rest

With plaid and pipes a blown
I’ll gather with the long gone kin
And never be alone

 The days I have left

Are in Gods protecting hands
All I know is this
There’s no joy without this Clan

Newport - More Pictures

Matt Sims - with the NW Scots Honor Guard

Mike Burke - our newest Convener

Todd - with his targe.

Mary MacDonald - showing how tough she is.

Kate - proving how tough SHE is.

Newport Pictures

Newport report

WOW!!!

One word description of Newport this year...WINDY!!!

It was constantly windy...very windy with high gusts often...which meant we had very little in the way of traffic. A few folk dropped by, but not too many hung out for more than a few minutes. We spent most of our time chasing items than were blown off the tables.

We were in a good spot to watch a lot of the games however,

And we had visitors from Washington State helping us out this year...Mary MacDonald, the Regional Commissioner was with us, as well as the Two Ronnies plus Bretta. Also with us was Tom and Sue McDonald...thanks for all your help! We would have been hard pressed to do it all by ourselves this year. And besides...y'all are the most fun to hang out with!

We would like to get a huge shout out to Mike Burke...who has consented to be our newest convener.

go easy on him!

You can see from the pictures that we had lot's of sun...but with the wind it didn't feel very warm. So, most of us got a little sunburnt as well as wind burnt...I am going to go nurse my wounds...I will upload more pictures tomorrow...

Kate

Gearing up for Newport Celtic Festival

Almost time for the Newport Celtic Festival! We have been getting together all the things that we forgot the last time...fingers crossed that we have everything this time.

We hope you will come down and join us...the festival starts Friday night, with a bonfire on the beach. The 'official' hotel for the festival is the Best Western at Agate Beach...they have a 35% discount if you tell them you are there for the festival. But you could join us just for a day...it is worth the trip!

Here is a picture from last years festival

Hope to see you there!

Kate