NEWS

UPCOMING EVENTS

Classes resume on Wednesday, 7 January 2009.

Medicine Hat Annual Burns Social

Come celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Rabbie Burns at 7:30PM on Wednesday, 28 January 2009, in RR3 of the Cultural Centre.

2009 Toronto Workshop and Ball

The RSCDS Toronto Association invites you to join us for our annual Tartan Ball, the 46th, to be held at the Fairmont Royal York hotel on Saturday, 21 February 2009. We have a wonderful program of dances and the music will be by Bobby Brown and the Scottish Accent. Our guest of honour is one of our teachers, Jean Noble, who has just received the Scroll of Honour at the AGM in Scotland. On our website you will find a description of the Ball and the ticket application form. The website is www.rscdstoronto.org, then go to either the What’s On or the RSCDS Toronto Events page and follow the links. The cribs for the dances should also be posted there soon. The hotel is giving us a discount room rate if you book by January 21. Looking forward to seeing you at the Ball.

2009 Edmonton Workshop and Ball

The 39th anniversary of RSCDS Edmonton Branch will be celebrated at the Club's workshop and ball to be held 27, 28 February and 1st March 2009 at the Sutton Place Hotel in Edmonton. The three SCD teachers are Ruth Jappy, Muriel Johnstone and Bill Zobel from BC. Bobby Brown and some of the members of his band, the Scottish Accent, from Ontario, plus Christine Baker from Edmonton, will provide music for classes, and Bobby Brown and the Scottish Accent will provide the music for the ball.

2009 Lethbridge Workshop and Ball

The Lethbridge Scottish Country Dance Club is excited to announce the teaching and musician staff for the 2009 SCD Workshop and Ball to be held at the Lethbridge Lodge 3-5 April. The musicians, who will be providing music for all events, are:
- Ron Krug and Ken Nattrass from Winnipeg, MB for the Friday night Ceilidh
- Ken, Ron, and Jim Lindsay from Perth, Scotland for Saturday and Sunday SCD classes
- Muriel Johnstone from Courtney, BC for the musicians workshop
- Muriel and Jim for the Saturday night Ball
The dance teachers are:
- Elinor Vandegrift, RSCDS Examiner and frequent guest teacher, from Seattle, WA and two teachers known in the east and south of the continent but making their first visits to western Canada as workshop staff
- Susan Wood from Nashville, TN
- David Booz from Toronto, ON
The registration form and ball programme will become available on the Lethbridge SCD Club's web site (www.lethbridgescottishcountrydance.org) before the end of November.
For more information: Gail Michener and Fiona Miller
Lethbridge Scottish Country Dance Club
- michener@uleth.ca
- fionastirlingmiller@yahoo.ca

2009 St. Giles Workshop and Ball

St. Giles Scottish Country Dance Group announces their Annual Workshop and Ball for 24 and 25 April, 2009,  to be held at Varsity Acres Community Association.  Teachers will be Una Lennam of Victoria, Timothy Wilson of San Francisco and our own Elizabeth Kean of Medicine Hat. For more information, contact the Registrar, Donna Gillespie at 403.247.6285 or by email at donnagil@telus.net.

RECENT EVENTS

"Nollaig Chridheil!" Medicine Hat Christmas Social

Our last class of 2008 took place on 3 December at 7:30PM in RR3 of the Cultural Centre. It was a Christmas social and there was lots of red and green! See photos on ALBUM page.

2008 Medicine Hat Workshop and Ball

The 2008 annual workshop and ball took place 31 October to 2 November 2008 at the Medicine Hat Lodge. Great fun! See photos on ALBUM page.

2008 Medicine Hat Branch Registration Social

The 2008 Registration Social for the Medicine Hat Branch took place on Wednesday, 10 September 2008, at the Cultural Centre. Old friends and new faces were in evidence. Thanks to those who brought snacks! And we'll all try to do better next time with Postie's Jig... who was Postie anyway?

Lothian Schools Strathspey and Reel Society

Fiddles, voice, piano and pipes filled the Medicine Hat College Theatre, 7:30 PM, on Thursday, 10 July 2008. Jigs, reels, strathspeys! It was interesting to note that the Scottish fiddling differs somewhat from the Cape Breton fiddling, an older form that picks up some of its style from dance tunes played on the pipes.

Eric Retires!

Eric Kean, a long time member of the Medicine Hat branch, RSCDS, is not exactly "retiring" but he has retired. Not from dancing but from his day job at Goodyear after many years. It's not a "last day" that many at Goodyear will soon forget!