As we begin the New Year, Scottish Country Dance has inspired me to realize that the world is full of amazing opportunities that most people, including myself, are afraid to explore.

Liza, John, and I have been running an experiment this year at Hewlett Packard to develop methods to recruit new dancers. We have learned that very few HP employees are individually willing to try SCD one time. These results are consistent with my observations of the larger community. My theory is that we are afraid to try new things because of fear of failure and social rejection. I will report the details of the theory and HP results in a future article, but for now I would like to explore the implications of the fact that Scottish Country Dance is an amazing opportunity for everyone, yet most people are afraid to have the curiosity to try it.

I recently viewed a PBS program about the Blue Man Group. A key message of this entertainment group is: If we are willing to have the courage to get beyond self consciousness and we are willing to unleash the power of collaboration, then we will be able to create something beyond our wildest dreams. Scottish Country Dance is a good example. We have all had the courage to try SCD and have collaborated to create a moment of fun and beauty together for each dance.

Scottish Country Dance is a wonderful aerobic and mental activity that we do consistently to maintain fitness. We can all grow old together in good health! We are also able to share wonderful Celtic music, both recorded and live. I feel fortunate to have developed a great group of friends with you all. We were brought together by Scottish Country Dance.

Scottish Country Dance is an opportunity that is patiently waiting for newcomers to discover our charming teachers and friendly dancers. Let this example inspire us to develop the curiosity to explore new opportunities of our own that will make 2007 be a very good year.

As Americans and Canadians, we note and recite the place names of the locations we live in or frequent during the course of business or pleasure with really little thought as to their origins. In my home state of Oregon, and in Washington just across the border, there are many place names such as Multnomah, Clackamas, Scapoose, Camas, and Washougal that are often names of Indian tribes or place names from the Indians themselves that lived in the area before the immigration of Europeans.

Many of us are familiar with the bits of Scottish culture that appear from time to time at funerals, parades, and local festivals such as Highland games. However, there are also place names that came from Scottish immigrants to the area. Many in our group are familiar with Kelso, Washington, named after the hometown of Peter Crawford, a Scottish immigrant in the 1840s.

In Oregon, there is a local jail (!) named after the Scottish town of Inverness, Inbhir Nis in Gàidhlig, meaning the River of Nis. West of there, on the other side of the Willamette River, lies the town of Hillsboro, which in Scotland is located just a wee bit southeast of Glasgow. The historic Old Scotch Church in Hillsboro, Oregon, organized in 1873 by twelve Scottish settlers from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is one of the oldest continuously used churches in Oregon.

Of course, for those of us who ply the I-5 corridor to Canada or Seattle, our eyes at least peripherally notice the exit to Aberdeen, Washington, in Grays Harbor County. Aberdeen in Scotland today is in the far north near the North Sea and is also known as the Granite City because of the grey granite with which much of the old town was built.

Now, if you want to explore the place names of Scotland's emigrants that traveled air feadh an t-saoghail all over the world, visit http://www.friendsofscotland.gov.uk/scotlandnow/issue-02/history/scottish-placenames.html.

Bliadhna Mhath Ùr dhuibh ann an 2007!
Happy New Years in 2007 to everyone!

Have you ever wanted to visit Scotland and be back in time for dinner? Vancouver USA Scottish Country Dancers are offering the best price on a tour of Scottish culture with a wee bit of Robert Burns celebration added on at no extra cost.

For a mere $8 paid at the door, you will receive two hours of Scottish entertainment and a ticket that can be used to win an outstanding prize. Additional prize drawing tickets can be purchased, so bring some extra dollars if you don't mind winning one of several theme baskets or original art or craft that may catch your fancy. If you're feeling extra thrifty, bring two friends along and pay only $20 for three entrances. Hot drinks (tea, cider and cocoa) along with our best Scottish shortbread are also included.

For over two centuries, Robert Burns, the famous bard of Scotland, has been celebrated every January with ceremonial suppers featuring speeches, poems, and haggis. Our Scottish Afternoon will be a bit more lighthearted and family-oriented, so bring everyone who is young of years or heart. We'll have fun marching to the McMulligans bagpipes and drums, trying out a couple of Scottish Country dances, listening to some of the most beautiful love songs by Robert Burns sung by our favorite tenor, Bart Moore, enjoying the lighter side of Scottish humor with Sandy MacKenzie and some of the best fiddling by Hamilton Rant. You may learn something about tartans and clans and whether you have any Scottish ancestors. We'll sing Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns and leave knowing we had the best and shortest visit to Scotland this side of Ayr.

    What:   Scottish  Afternoon
    When:   January 20 from 2pm to 4pm
    Where:  Camas Community Center at 1718 SE 7th Ave., Camas, WA
    How to get there:  
      Take Hwy 14 east of Camas 
      Turn left on Union Street (just before you get to Washougal)
      Turn left on SE 8th Avenue
      Go to the fourth street and turn right on Polk Street
      You will see the back of the Camas Community Center two blocks 
        up on the right 

Park in either the right or left parking lots and use the back door of the Center. Additional parking is on the street or in the lot at the corner of 8th and Polk.

On February 17th, we'll be treated to a different kind of dance evening. The dancing public is invited to come sample a variety of ethnic and cultural dance forms. Teachers will guide us through the steps of easy dances representative of their traditions.

Some of the folk dance forms we can look forward to are: Tyrolean, Israeli, Line dancing [Texas is a whole 'nother country!], Estonian, and Polish. And there may be a Scottish dance or two, of course.

It promises to be a fun and relaxing evening, where we'll all be beginners together, again. See the calendar entry for the details, and save the date!

Here are some photos taken at our last class Ceilidh. What characters we are!

Black socks, black socks...

The Twelve Days of Divorce

and dancing!

Step dancing, by the Quatro Amigos