St. Andrew's Society

of Atlanta

The President's Message by Frank R. Shaw

Springtime means Tartan Day, and our Society's celebration of the event on March 31st at the home of Her Majesty's Consul General, Martin Rickerd and his charming wife, Charmain, was a great success, thanks again to our Mistress of Ceremonies, Kate Graham. Toasters for the evening included George Gaillard, Joan Sankey, Bill Wallace, and Tom Burns - great job, everyone! And special appreciation goes to Vice President David Grant who arranged for Governor Perdue to sign a proclamation for Tartan Day and for sharing it with us.

We enjoyed, as always, a performance by members of the John Mohr MacKintosh Pipes & Drums led by our own Gordon Wilson, as well as a rendition of Flowers of the Forest by piper Winter Taylor. The blessing of our food was presented by Margaret Adam, and following the buffet dinner, Walter Ligon led Scottish country dancing with many of our members and guests joining in. If you were unable to be with us for the festivity, I do hope you celebrated Tartan Day in some way. We are privileged to have a day specifically designated to recognize the contribution of Scots in America and, again, our sincere appreciation to Kate, Martin and Charmain for making this night a very special one for the Society.

Harlan Groover has graciously accepted the position as Chairman of the Society's 2008 Nominating Committee, and we are currently working to fill the other seats on this important committee. If you have someone you would like to recommend serving with Harlan, please let me know right away since the group will begin its efforts soon.

Again, I want to remind everyone to let Membership Chair Elly Groover know if you have changes in address, telephone or email. So, please take a moment to contact Elly (ljgroover@mindspring.com or 770-471-7923) with any future changes. This is an on-going process and one that we need each of you to help with - it's difficult to communicate with our members if the information we have on hand is incorrect. And make sure you have the Society's email address (sntandrewsatl@hotmail.com) current so it won't be denied by your spam filter.

Let's continue to remember in our thoughts and prayers the military personnel within our St. Andrew's family - Tim Boothe, Ian Carter, Chris Crate, and Clay Harris - as well as their kin.

I hope to see many of you at our Spring Meeting at the FOP Hall in Stone Mountain on Saturday, May 12. David Grant has been working with the Fraternal Order of Police to prevent another miscommunication on meeting dates. In addition to the business portion of the meeting, there will be a brief presentation on the friendship between Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron. You'll find more information regarding this meeting and future Society events in Vice President Grant's column.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot