PO Box 765, Rapid City SD 57709

BlackHillsCelticEvents.org

605-399-7203

Volume 7 Issue 11 November 2005

Program at November 17 S.I.S. Meeting

Our program will be on Hints for Planning Your Travel to Ireland, Scotland, and Wales by Diane Northrup from All Continents Travel. If we’re lucky, we may have a member or 2 bring some of their photos and stories too!

Hearty THANK YOU

to our many Generous Members

A HUGE thank you to the many members who responded to our plea for donations or loans to help us offset our losses from the Dakota Celtic Festival and Highland Games. Your generosity is very much appreciated.

Martinmas Celtic Ceilidh celebration

7:00 p.m., Friday, November 18, 2005, at the Arts Resource Center

Bring your DANCING SHOES!! - Becky Weiss Coulter will be calling the dances for the evening.

Martinmas is a Celtic celebration of the life of a Catholic Saint, revered by Protestants, Saint Martinmas.  The Dahl Arts Center is sponsoring this Celtic Ceilidh at the Arts Resource Center (1202 East St. Francis, Rapid City ... behind the Subway on E. St. Patrick).  All ages welcome.  $7/person or $10/couple.  Advance tickets available at the Dahl.  Free to musicians who play at the dance.  Pop, water, wine and beer available at an additional cost. The Scottish Irish Society will be selling food as a fund raiser – Call Pat Hamilton to volunteer to help or bake something.

S.I.S. Web Site:

Robert Millican has done an AWESOME job on our Society Website:

www.blackhillscelticevents.org .

Be sure to check it out! Wonderful photos, great information, fun & colorful presentation!

KUDOS & many thanks to you Robert!!!!!

Music at the Firehouse: Tues, Nov 29, 2005:

Celtic music will be played starting at 7:00. Musicians and Listeners wanted!

S.I.S. LIBRARY:

We’ve found the majority of our Library of books, CD’s and videos. We’re still missing some items, please return any items at our next S.I.S. meeting. If anyone has turned in any materials to the Black Hills Celtic Shop, please let us know what the title was and we will retrieve it.

BOARD MEMBER & OFFICER NOMINATIONS:

Nominations for board vacancies will be taken from the floor at the membership meeting. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to get involved!

November 17	7:00 p.m.	General membership Meeting, TREA* Building, Rapid City; Program: Travel tips, hints, & ideas for visiting Ireland, Scotland & Wales
November 18	7:00 p.m.	Martin Mass (St Martin of Tours) Celtic Celebration (Ceilidh & Dance); $7 per person or $10 per couple; Location: Arts Resource Center; call the Dahl for details. Tickets available at the door.
November 29	7:00 p.m.	Celtic music at the Firehouse
December 1	7:00 p.m.	Board Meeting, TREA* Building, Rapid City
December 15	7:00 p.m.	General membership Meeting, TREA* Building, Rapid City; Program: Celtic Christmas traditions & history
December	To be announced	Hogmanay (Scottish New Year)
December 31	Civic Center	Celtic New Years Celebration and Hogmanay Ceilidh after Symphony
January 28	6:00 p.m.	Robert Burns Dinner, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Rapid City
March 18	6:00 p.m.	St Patrick’s Day Dinner, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Rapid City
To be announced		Rummage Sale

*TREA = The Retired Enlisted Association building, 1981 East Centre Street, Rapid City

This year has in fact been a very difficult and challenging year for the S.I.S. We were faced with a myriad of diversities, but still managed to pull off a festival and Highland games. I think that alone speaks volumes for the dedication and deep sense of caring we have for our Celtic Culture. There continued to be some changes within our society with the resignations of John and Sara Salyers and the resignation as President of Bill Bom. John and Sara have chosen to pursue other endeavors and we wish them the best and thank them for all that they contributed to the SIS, they will be missed. Bill Bom continues on as an active member of the SIS and we continue to look forward to working with Bill and his endless contributions to the SIS.

Elections are coming up in January and I cannot stress the importance of these elections. I am asking you to please become involved with the process and help to determine a list of candidates for the vacant positions and participate in the elections by naming candidates or becoming one yourself. This upcoming election is vital for the continued success of the S.I.S. as there are many excellent candidates out there amongst us. We look forward to your strengths and wisdom.

On another note this new Celtic year brings a host of fun and fellowship activities throughout the year beginning with Martinmas followed by Hogmanay, the Robert Burns Dinner and the St Patrick Days events and Dinner. These events promise to be great Celtic fun and fund raisers, and best of all, provide good Celtic fellowship amongst family and friends.

It promises to be a fun and exciting year for all of us with the S.I.S. and I hope that you are all looking forward to the upcoming year and events as much as I am. I would like to see all of our members at each event either as volunteers, participants or whatever. Let's just have fun! A new year, a new beginning.

Bill Knight

Interim President

.

I thought you might like to hear some very good news.

You, the members, have risen to the challenge and contributed over $5000 in donations to cover the shortfall from the festival. You have loaned the SIS over $1000.

This is a clear statement from you, the membership, that SIS is alive and well. Obviously, you are committed to maintain our place as a vigorous member of the cultural community in the Black Hills.

The board made a clear statement in the September newsletter, a commitment, to continue to keep the true purpose of our organization in the forefront. We are a family based cultural and social organization. Your vote of confidence makes it possible to continue, united, with our true purpose in mind.

Thanks you for your support through this past year,

Gary Hamilton, Board Member

Sally (affectionately know as the “Queen of Halloween” to her friends) regaled us with tales and history of how the Celts celebrated Halloween. She shared some Halloween treats (witches fingers, etc)! Sally also brought some ‘faerie’ houses that her daughter Amber made and has for sale to illustrate some of the Celtic history. Amber generously offered to donate the money from the sales of these houses to the Society. THANK YOU AMBER!

A Brief History of the Celts by Carole Conrad

(The viewpoints & theories of several authors, compiled)

Chapter 1, the Picts, Druids

Much of what we know of the Celts was gleaned from the writings of the Romans, piles of discarded seashells and implements of bone and stone, from monoliths and mounds of grass-grown turf, & forts. Painstakingly, archaeologists have pieced together a handful of basic facts about the Stone & Bronze Age inhabitants who occupied the British Isles and the first Celtic invaders who followed them in successive waves a good many centuries later.

The origin of the Celts was in Central Eastern Eurasia near the source waters of the Danube, the Rhine & the Rhone Rivers. They came to consist of warrior tribes of varying ethnicity united by a common language, social and religious customs, and way of life. Some modern scholars believe that there were Proto-Celtic tribes in Britain circa 1500 BC and that a significant portion of the Druidic knowledge was passed to them by the Bronze Age natives. Yet others believe that the first true Celts did not arrive until 500BC. According to Nigel Tranter, the Scots descend from the Picts of Alba. Alba consisted of the northern third of the British Isles. Picts is our word for the Gaelic word “ Cruithne” which means wheat-grower. This is significant, implying a settled civilization of agriculturists in an age of hunters, raiders and nomads. Who then were these Picts of Alba? They were a Celtic people, for certain, emanating like the rest from that cradle of races, the Euphrates valley, and working their way in waves of emigration round the northern Mediterranean shores, into Spain, where they left the Basques; France where they deposited the Bretons, to Ireland, and from there to Cornwall, Wales and Alba, all the Celtic lands. This journey took untold centuries – but the Celts have long memories, and vivid imaginations.

The Romans named them Picts, which comes from the Latin pictor, a painter, or picturates, painted. This could refer to their custom of communicating by means of pictures & symbols, having little or no written language. Another school of thought believes that the term Pict indicates their ability to weave multi-colored cloth (tartans), which for some reason the non-Celtic peoples never seemed to have mastered. Various scholars claim they painted their bodies blue instead of wearing clothes. The Pictish race would not have lasted long in Alba’s climate if this had been their habit! All the carvings & symbol stones they left behind show them as wearing a variety of clothing, kilts, tunics, priestly robes, armor, etc. In any event, they were an interesting people. There was much more to these Celtic tribesmen than mere proficiency in battle. They were also skilled artisans and clever metalworkers. Their ruling class, the Druids, were learned in law, philosophy, history, medicine, poetry, astronomy, and music!

Because they had an oral tradition prodigious amounts of knowledge had to be passed between the generations. As Caesar wrote about them, “They are said to learn thoroughly a great number of verses. On that account, some continue at education for twenty years.” The existence of the Druids as teachers goes far back into Irish mythology. James Bomerch, in Irish Druids, cites the “Annals of the Four Masters” as referring to the City of the Learned existing in 927 BC. Of course drawing precise dates from myth is risky business at best, but the legends show the continuity of the tradition of learning by rote that precedes the arrival of the Iron Age Celts.

No one knows what happened to the Picts, but it is now commonly accepted , that they were assimilated by the Celts. In any event, the Celts did acquire at least some of the knowledge of the Picts.

----More about the social structure of the Celts in the next chapter and the wonderful legacy they left us ----

1. Treasurer’s report: (updated 10/28)

$7,792 generated.

$14,241 cost to operate.

$7,000 approximate shortage.

$4,304 in donations received. (as of 10/28)

$864 in currently in SIS account. (as of 10/28; all outside bills are paid)

$1,160 current balance of member loans

2. Carol will send a thank you by mail to members for their donations with a receipt for tax donations.

3. Will need to set aside $400 to $500 for Burns Dinner costs.

Old Business.

1. Pat Hamilton volunteered to coordinate November’s meeting (maybe more) and find a travel agent to present on travel to Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Members were also asked to bring in pictures of their trips to Scotland and Ireland and tell us about their vacations. Pat will arrange.

2. Susan Sullivan gave Pat Hamilton 3 boxes of videos and tapes that Pat will bring parts of it to meetings for members to checkout.

New Business

1. Robert Millican proposed to host SIS website from ADDR.com to use as a method of

ticket sales on line. There would be an annual cost should SIS approve.

2. Robert Milican will set up the website with the Newsletter on a hidden link & Pat can

forward the link to all members.

3. Dahl Center is sponsoring a Celtic celebration on November 18 to be held at the Art

Resource Center. Carole Conrad offered to call and ask if they need help. She will

also ask if SIS can sell tickets to upcoming events at the celebration.

4. Cheryl Lemley made a motion to buy a set of tickets for the Celtic celebration to be

used a raffle for $1.00 each as a SIS fund raiser. Nila Boone seconded the motion.

5. Pat Hamilton will publish a generic thank you to all members who generously made

donations & loans to the S.I.S

6. Amber Knight sold faerie houses at the general meeting with sales donated to SIS.

Pictures of houses will be in next news letter. Bill and Sally Knight will bring houses

to meetings for sale, which will go to SIS.

7. There was discussion about some confusion regarding ownership of S.I.S. tents and

flags. Carole Conrad will investigate.

8. Bill Bom announced resignation from the Society of John and Sara Salyers. Bill Bom

then gave his resignation as president and exited the meeting.

9. All resignations were regretfully accepted by members present.

10. Board members reinforced our goal to move forward in a positive, upbeat manner.

11. Sally Knight gave a presentation on Halloween and its Celtic origins.

Respectfully Submitted by Sally Knight

Old Business:

-- String Thaw has committed to Burns Dinner.

-- Last year’s cost of Burns Dinner was discussed as guideline.

-- Gary Hamilton will print the tickets.

-- Bill Knight will begin thinking of menu with changes from last year.

-- Society Safety Guidelines will be developed by the board for presentation to the membership at the next meeting.

New Business:

-- SIS has been invited to join the Dahl’s fine art center for $50.00/year. They will

help to promote events be an outlet for ticket sales. Board approved.

-- With upcoming elections approaching, the idea of a nominating committee be presented at the

next general meeting.

-- Holly Lemay of String Thaw asked SIS if they would like to be a sponsor for their New Years

Eve Hogmanay and symphony at the civic center. This will be presented to members.

-- SIS will be allowed to sell merchandise and tickets for the Burns dinner at the

the Martinmas celebration on November 18.

-- Burns dinner plans discussed: cost, need for pipers, haggis toast, advertising

and menu. Dahl’s can print posters for about 35cents each.

Respectfully Submitted by Sally Knight, Acting Secretary

President Vacant

Vice President Bill Knight (Interim President)

Secretary Sally Knight

Treasurer Carole Conrad

Board Members

Gary Hamilton, Midge Schmidt, Aliyah Sanders, & two-open-positions

Membership Open

Web Site Robert Millican & Pat Hamilton

Newsletter Pat Hamilton, path@rushmore.com

If you would like to contribute an article or story, list an event, submit a photo, etc. to the newsletter, please email the item to me by the 5th of each month.