In November each year a Nominating Committee is formed to select candidates to fill positions of retiring trustees. Successful candidates are presented for election as trustees at the Society’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in February. This year we are canvasing the entire membership to solicit interested members to present themselves as candidates. The nominating committee will review all member submissions to determine who they will recommend for election. Nominations from the floor of the AGM are also accepted.

If you would like to be considered as a candidate please complete this form.

Completed forms should be submitted by 31st December, 2020.

Every Games venue was bustling the entire weekend—from the Gordon Highlander re-creation demonstration and herding dogs in Morgan Arena to the lively and educational Children's Glen and Highland Dance areas near the main entrance—people were interested and entranced by what they could see and enjoy. Three stages occupied by some of the best Celtic entertainers in the country were humming with quality sounds as were a dozen or so smaller venues with fiddlers, choirs, classrooms, and even a brass band for those who dropped by. You could not miss the bagpipers and bands, alone and en masse, as they marched the grounds from one end of Clan Row to the other. And, we hope you did not overlook the Scottish Heavy Athletes as they thundered to set three new records in heaving their heavy tackle and cabers! It is truly a show like no other. The new darts venue drew many participants from across the Western US and will pull in more new players and observers as the word spreads. And the SASLA tent was there amidst it all!

One stage—the Celtic Rock Stage—remained open and rocking on Saturday until the wee hours and has a strong possibility of that becoming a tradition on the Field.

If food and drink were your cup of tea, it was all available, from good Scottish meat pies and bangers to burgers and fries, the Games Food Court was the place to be. Fine British beers and ales washed down helpings of fish and chips and you could even get an education on Scotch whisky—with tastes—in Ray Pearson's Glenfiddich classroom. Classes in the Gaelic language were very popular this year and the Celtic Arts Center Gaelic Choir demonstrated exactly how much you did not know about Gaelic speaking and singing!

Merchandise vendors a plenty for your gifting needs were there, as were several dozen British car owners, from local British Car Clubs showing off their fine automobiles. The military was represented by Yellow Ribbon America and by the Soldier's Angels Campaign (who assisted the children in writing letters to US service personnel overseas) and the Masonic Order did their usual fine job with the free Child I.D. program.

Plans are already in the works for the 2009 Games (October 10th & 11th) and we hope that many of you will become Seaside Ambassadors and invite your friends and relatives to join us in Ventura next year!

Peter is the youngest winner the show has ever had AND the first Scottish winner.

The Kaleidoscope has been a staple of children’s toy chests for more than 200 years since it was invented by Sir David Brewster in 1816. Born in the small Scottish country town of Jedburgh, Brewster was uncannily intelligent – building his own telescope from scratch aged just 10 years old and this early interest in optics continued throughout his life. Incredibly, due to an error at the patent office, Brewster’s invention was allowed to be quickly and crudely copied by opportunistic entrepreneurs, meaning that he saw little of the financial rewards.

These days, the use of hypodermic needles in medicine is common-place. Whether it’s an immunisation, giving blood, or receiving an injection of some kind, countless millions of people around the world have experienced the sharp prick of a hypodermic needle. This revolutionary invention is all thanks to Scottish physician, Alexander Wood, who developed the first hypodermic needle in 1853. Wood actually came up with the idea for the device by studying how a bee delivers its sting.

James Watt, the Scottish inventor, engineer and chemist was one of the true pioneers of the industrial revolution. His improvements on the steam engine in 1776 changed industry both at home and around the world. His introduction of a separate condenser helped avoid needless energy waste, making steam engines everywhere more powerful, more efficient and more cost-effective. A popular myth about Watt is that he came up with the idea of the power of steam while watching his mother’s kettle boil and seeing the steam raise the lid.

Douglas Stuart based Shuggie Bain on his childhood in Glasgow, Scotland. He was awarded the 2020 Booker Prize on Thursday.19th November 2020.

Some time ago, our Director of Whisky Creation, Dr Bill, found himself musing over how some of his most joyful memories came from cake — from the pineapple upside down cake his daughter made for his birthday to baking with his Granny in her kitchen.

He devised this whisky to conjure the magic of a cake moment, finishing his favourite Glenmorangie Single Malt in the finest Tokaji dessert wine casks.

The liquid is a rich copper, but the taste is pure technicolour, luscious, sweet and complex with multi-layered bursts of honey, white chocolate and fruits with a lilting hint of mint. As you might expect, it tastes incredible when enjoyed with actual cake.

If you're looking to get your Scottish fix of food and drink from hame try these online sources:

Belhaven – or “Beautiful harbour” – nestles among the rolling barley fields of the beautiful East Lothian coast, around 20 miles east of Edinburgh. For nearly 300 years, we have brewed in this place using only the finest local barley and choicest hops!

Established in 1719, Belhaven is Scotland’s oldest working brewery. With abundant local barley, fine water from the brewery well and access to markets up and down the coast, Belhaven was the perfect place for a brewery back then, and it still is today.