Scottish Games

The bagpipes are calling again! The Sacramento Caledonian Club will be holding it's 133rd Sacramento Valley Scottish Games & Festival at the Woodland Fairgrounds in Woodland on April 25th & 26th. BCCNC will have a breed information booth again this year in the Scottish Animal venue and I'm looking for volunteers for both days to help man the booth and answer questions from the public. This is a really fun event with with excellent Celtic music (the Wicked Tinkers are usually there), Celtic dancing, Scottish food, terrific vendors, and of course the actual games! Don't miss that caber tossing and hammer-throwing (all done in kilts of course!) This is probably one of my favorite events of the year and the people at this event are always really friendly and fun.

I need a minimum of two other people besides myself and a maximum of five others besides myself each day. This allows for everyone to take a breaks to go explore and enjoy the games. Volunteers need to give me a firm commitment that they will be there, although you don't need to stay all day - a half day is perfectly OK. The hours for the games are from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. I'm usually there by 7:30 a.m to set up and stay until 5:00 p.m. I will take volunteers on a first to volunteer basis :)

Our members dogs act as ambassadors for our breed so there are some guidelines for the dogs. The number of volunteers will determine the number of dogs each person can bring with them because we only have room for so many ex-pens and crates.

1. Dogs should be recently bathed, brushed (and nails trimmed if possible), but they don't need to be groomed to show standards. All of the Scottish Animals participate in the parade of clans each day so we want the dogs to look their best. Each dog will get a bandanna from the games for their dog to wear in the parade. In addition, alot of people will be petting your dog each day and for the general public (many non-doggy folks) it's much nicer to pet a clean dog than one that needs a bath.

2. Dogs should be good with small children and people in weird costumes. There are MANY small children at the games who love to pet the dogs. There are also many people dressed in period costumes and not just kilts, so dogs need to be fairly rock solid about strange things.

3. Dogs need to be well mannered around other animals and livestock. There are hawks, sheep, cattle and horses in the Animal area in addition to dogs. Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times when not crated, but in case they should happen to get loose for some reason we don't want them chasing the other animals and livestock.

4. There are ALOT of loud noises at the games and we are located right near one of the music stages. In addition to the bagpipes, there are the big drums and the cannons. The bagpipes bother some dogs, but the drums and the cannons seem to scare the dogs the most. If your dog is fearful of loud noises, then this probably isn't a good event for them.

5. You will need to bring a crate or ex-pen for your dog. We take turns bringing the dogs out. Most dogs enjoy all of the attention, but some dogs can get tired of all the attention, so they need a place to take a break or a nap :) You will also need to bring water/snacks your dog (for you too if you don't plan on trying the Scottish food :), and a chair for yourself. We will have two large canopies with shade cloth, but be prepared for both cold or hot weather. Many times its quite chilly in the mornings, but gets darned toasty in the afternoon. Some years we have also had wind and rain.

If you are interested in volunteering for our booth, please e-mail me at borderbrats@wavecable.com

If you are just interested in possibly coming to check out the games, you can find more informormation regarding tickets and events at http://www.saccallie.org/games/.

Jeanne Hagen-Santiago