The Chieftain's Letter

November 2005

Cheryl Duthie May

Happy Thanksgiving to all! This time of year I always remember my sweet mother-in-law who managed to figure out 1001 ways to prepare the leftovers from Thanksgiving. I extend warm wishes to all our members as we begin the holiday season.

I want to thank both The Houston Highlanders and Jay Dooling for making our October meeting special. We started our program year with the wonderful sound of bagpipers. Jay gave us insight into visiting Scotland’s Celtic neighbor, Ireland. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful slides. Our members were treated to a special evening.

By the time you receive this newsletter, we will have celebrated our Kirking service and catered luncheon at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church. We are grateful to the Reverend Patricia Clark and everyone at St. Stephen who worked so very hard to make this a very memorable event. I appreciate all of you who were able to attend. My special thanks goes to steadfast member, Eileen Moore, who personally made the Scottish boutonnières for everyone. It was our intention to make this service meaningful for all parishioners at St. Stephen, and we thought the non-Scottish folks would enjoy wearing “the plaid and thistle.” Thanks to Jack Hume for sharing his church with us.

November 28th Meeting. Is everyone prepared to learn a reel or two? Get out those dancing shoes. RSCDS is going to do their best to prepare us for The Burns Supper. Our program will combine a demonstration and dance lessons. Bring a partner and a neighbor or two. RSCDS promises to help those of us with two left feet to be on our toes at the end of the evening. Remembering all may be the challenge.

Future Programs. Next month we will have our annual Christmas Party and “White Elephant” exchange. Start thinking about the little gift to share. The Burns Club will present our program in January. Mark Monroe has generously offered to sponsor a music program by Jim and Margaret Fox that covers Texas music during the period 1821-1865. We will be working on a date for that performance.

The Burns Supper. If you have not ordered your Burns Supper tickets, do so immediately. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on December 1st. If you need a ticket form, go to our web site: www.heatherandthistle.org and download the ticket form which is under the caption Robert Burns.

Pantry Donations. I was delighted to discover that several members brought donations for Houston’s food bank. Thank you very much. Thanksgiving reminds us of our many blessings, and I encourage all of you to remember those who need our prayers and help.

God bless our Veterans!

Yours aye,

Cheryl Duthie May
Chieftain

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