2009 Clan MacLeod USA
Annual Meeting
By: Bill G. MacLeod
| The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Clan MacLeod Society, USA, Inc. was held on June 11th to June 14th, 2009 at the Holiday Inn in St. Louis, Missouri. The well organized and first rate event was conducted by the Missouri Valley Region. More than 90 Clan members attended the four day event where we had a chance to meet new friends and renew acquaintances. At the gathering we conducted a little bit of business, lots of socializing and many informative and fun events. After each days activities the Hospitality Room was available for socializing and some refreshments. |
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The opening ceremony included our keynote speaker for the Stanly R. and Marvyl McLeod Memorial lecture who was the Reverend John Carothers and spoke about the MacLeods and our ties with the Highlands and Robert Burns. This year we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns and he was the centerpiece of the gathering. |
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Several educational and interesting workshops/ seminars were conducted during the gathering. The following is a list of topics:
Viking Ancestry of Clan MacLeod, by Weeden Nichols. (Click here to view pictures of the workshops.) |
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Scottish Arms Restaurant was the location of a casual night in its backyard garden, located just west of St Louis University campus. All the staff wore kilts and the restaurant was decorated with a Scottish theme. The menu included standard fair but also Scottish delights like haggis. The restaurant has the largest whisky selection in St Louis and in 2006 received a certification from Whisky Magazine as one of the great whisky bars in the world. The garden was dedicated solely to Clan MacLeod. We had a beautiful night to enjoy good food, good company and drink. The evening was topped off by celebrating two birthdays, Ireta Janiec’s 90th from Oregon and Bill MacLeod from San Diego. As usual the party continued back at the Hospitality Room. (Click here to view pictures of the night.) |
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The Clan had a full day custom tour of St Louis. The tour included many of the sites known as land marks of St Louis: Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium, the Mississippi river, River boats, Washington and St Louis University. One of the highlights of the tour was a stop and ceremony at the recently renovated Burns Statue. St Louis is one of only thirteen cities in the U.S. that have a Burns Statue. We visited Forest Park, the site of the 1904 World’s fair and one of the largest city parks in the United States. Today, Forest Park is home to the world renowned St. Louis Zoo, the St Louis Art Museum, the History Museum at Jefferson Memorial, the Science Center and the Muny, the largest Outdoor Theater in the country, among other attractions. |
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| We visited St Louis’ Union Station where we had a guided tour of the Grand Hall. Once the busiest rail terminal in the world, the Grand Hall and Train Shed have been magnificently renovated to house specialty stores, festive markets and a hotel. |
| No tour of St Louis would be complete with out a tour of Anheuser - Busch Brewery. We learned about the rich history of the colorful Busch family and the King of Beers. The brewery is situated in a complex with over 70 red brick structures on 100 acres. The brewery buildings are known for their unique architecture and several are National Historic Landmarks. We saw the world famous Clydesdales, the fermentation building, the packing and bottling plant, the brew house and a film about the brewing process. The last stop was in the Hospitality Room to sample the family of Anheuser – Busch products. The last stop of the tour was at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, a St. Louis tradition since 1929. (Click here to view pictures of the tour.) |
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The Formal Banquet was held at the Hotel on Saturday night. In addition to the great meal we had awards, speakers, entertainment and silent auction conducted during the Banquet. Presentation of the Haggis was by Jay McClure and piping was provided by Jack Lewis. Clans Person of the Year is the most prestigious award given by the Clan. This year’s award was presented at the banquet to 90 year old Ireta Janiec from Bend, Oregon for her many years of service to the Clan. Entertainment was provided by Peat Fire Flame Band a Ceilidh dance band and highland dancing performed by Dance Caledonia. The event ended with socializing and dancing. The party continued in the Hospitality Room to the wee hours of the morning. (Click here to view pictures of the banquet.) |
| The Sunday closing event was the Kirkin of Tartan Church Service. The service had a family connection, Reverend John McClure Good conducted the service and he is the father of our Regional Vice-President Ian Good. We all said our good bys and headed for home looking forward to our next Gathering in Scotland in 2010. (Click here to view pictures of the Service.) |
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We congratulate and thank Ian Good, the Planning Committee (Craig Spradling, Gary Scott and Weeden Nichols) and a great team of volunteers for arranging all these interesting, educational and entertaining events for us to enjoy. More Photos are also available on our “Photo Gallery” click here. |