Balboa Park, San Diego, California 92101 October 2009
News From The House 1
Highlights from the September Meeting:
The meeting was called to order by Trustee Steve Knight at 11:30 A.M. The pledge of allegiance was recited.
September birthdays and anniversaries:
Members celebrating birthdays in September are Don Stewart, September 11, Virginia Anderson, September 12, and Nancy Ross on September 22. Dan Beaty, Dianne’s son-in-law, also celebrates his birthday on September 11.
Prayers and Remembrances:
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Susan Self, who is fighting ovarian cancer, and to Ian Sinclair, who has been diagnosed with bladder cancer. Also to Jessie Sinclair who has Alzheimer’s disease. David McSwain reports that his sister’s bearded collie, who at times visited House of Scotland with David, has died. He also reports that a nephew is being deployed overseas. A moment’s silent prayer was offered for all those serving in harm’s way.
Pipe Band Report: Frank Yepiz, a tenor drummer with the pipe band, reported that the band did well at Pleasanton, placing sixth in the March Medley competition. The band also participated in the Poway Heritage Days parade. They won the trophy as best marching band. Frank reports that Peggy and Hamish Yuile are not going to continue in their current positions with the band. Their replacements are yet to be determined.
HPR Report: The regular HPR meeting is today, having been moved from Labor Day weekend. Cherie McGruer did attend a special meeting that was held to discuss several issues, including whether the cottages need to have three-compartment sinks to meet health codes for events such as food fair and December Nights. The issue of trash removal was also discussed. Cottages will be required to bag and dump their trash in a dumpster on their Lawn Program Sunday. There was also more discussion of what can and cannot be sold by the cottages.
Queen’s Report: There was no Queen’s report.
Old Business: Steve moderated.
Hosting: Gwenda has resigned/retired from the position of 2nd Vice President/Hosting Chair. Holly Stewart is back as “Hosting Holly” The pipe band will host in October, as usual. There are still a few open Sundays in November and December. Please contact Holly if you can host. The members voted to close the cottage on December 20, the day after the Christmas party. A letter will be sent to HPR on the closing.
Upcoming events:
z Remember that the October meeting is October 4 because most members will be attending the Seaside Highland games the following weekend.
z Ladies’ Auxiliary Luncheon will be on Wednesday, October 14. The House of Scotland will be hosting the luncheon. Luncheon will be served at 11:30, set up should begin by 10 am.
z Our lawn program is October 25. A sign-up sheet was available at the meeting and will be available again at the October meeting.
z The Battlefield Band is performing in San Diego on Friday, November 6. Tickets are $25.00 for the concert only. If you are interested in attending, please bring your check for $25 payable to the House of Scotland no later than the October meeting; Nancy will purchase group tickets after the October meeting. Additional information about the Battlefield Band can be obtained at www.battlefieldband.co.uk.
z December Nights is Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5. It’s not too early to start thinking about participating.
z Our Christmas party is December 19. Remember to make your room reservations if you plan to stay the night at King’s Inn.
Ceilidh Band: David McSwain reported that, as usual, the band is practicing today. They will be playing at the Lawn Program and at the Christmas party.
Housekeeping: Holly has brought in a new stock of lemonade. She and Mike will be checking supplies to make sure we have what is needed for the Lawn Program.
New Business: Steve moderated:
There were three prospective new members at the meeting. Scottie Moore is originally from Dundee, Scotland. She first came to the US as a child, when her parents sent her to Michigan to live with an aunt and uncle during the Second World War. Joining with her is her daughter, Margaret Larson. Also joining is Evah Graham Allen, who says she is interested in exploring her Scottish heritage.
Nominating Committee: David McSwain volunteered to be on the nominating committee. Dianne and Gwenda said they would be the other two members. We really have just one position to fill. We need a third trustee to replace Holly. Anyone interested in serving as a trustee can contact one of the committee members.
Other New Business:
- Stephanie Niven, from Stirling University, will be in San Diego and would like to set up a small booth at our Lawn Program, offering information on educational opportunities in Scotland. The members agreed that this would be a good idea and approved the plan.
- David McSwain had been contacted, as out webmaster, by a sports team in the UK that wanted to set up a link with our website. The members felt that this might just be a situation of using us to promote the other entity and was probably not a good idea.
- There was also a question of House of Scotland having our own page on Facebook. More discussion is needed at a future meeting.
- Cherie had received an email from Linda Chadbourne, which Dianne shared with the members. Linda says she is doing OK but misses us. (We miss her, too.) Linda has retired. Jennifer has moved home to pursue her master’s degree. Jennifer had just returned from a 14 day trip to England and Scotland, escorting a group of kids in the People to People Program.
Respectfully submitted,
Dianne Schultz, Secretary
Hosting
October The HOS Pipe Band
Nov. 1 Gwenda Measel & Don Stewart
Nov. 8 OPEN
Nov. 15 N. Ross, C. Hoffman, & J. McGhee
Nov. 22 OPEN
Nov. 29 OPEN
Dec. 6 OPEN
Dec. 13 OPEN
Dec. 20 CLOSED
Dec. 27 OPEN
Please call Holly at (619) 287-7812 if you can host.
Upcoming Events
Oct. 4 HOS Meeting, 11:30 am
Oct. 10 & 11 Seaside Highland Games
Oct. 14 Ladies’ Auxiliary Luncheon
Oct. 25 HOS Lawn Program
Nov. 6 Battlefield Band
Nov. 8 HOS Meeting, 11:30 am
Dec. 19 HOS Christmas Party & Meeting
Hearth of the Kitchen
Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle
Ingredients:
2 packagaes (14 ½ oz. ea.) gingerbread cake mix
1 package (4.6 oz) cook & serve vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 can (29 oz.) solid pack pumpkin
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 carton (12 oz.) frozen whipped toping, thawed, divided
Method:
Prepare and bake gingerbread according to package directions, using two greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
Meanwhile, for pudding, in a large saucepan, combine pudding mix and milk; stir until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer or until thickened. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature. Combine pumpkin and brown sugar; stir into pudding.
In a 4-qt. glass serving bowl, crumble one gingerbread cake; gently press down. Top with half of pudding mixture and whipped topping. Repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Yield: 25 servings (1 cup each)
Recipe from August & September 2008, Taste of Home Magazine
House Officers
President: Graham McGruer (619) 425-3454
1st VP: Nancy Ross (760) 757-4653
2nd VP: Gwenda Measel (619) 465-9306
Secretary: Dianne Schultz (760) 717-5108
Treasurer: Cherie McGruer (619) 425-3454
Trustees: Mike Stewart (619) 287-7812
Holly Stewart (619) 287-7812
Steve Knight (858) 883-2512
This month in Scottish History
Waverley Paddle Steamer
- Glasgow Photo Library
There is a long tradition of sailing "doon the watter" on the Clyde, but the Waverley is one of the last survivors (though there is now a ferry service from Glasgow to Braehead and there are plans to start a new high-speed ferry service to Dunoon). The Waverley is the world’s last sea-going paddle steamer and was launched in 1947, replacing another vessel of the same name, which was lost during the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk. The ship is nearly 240 feet long but only 30 feet wide. Originally coal-fired, she now runs on oil.
Initially, she provided services from Craigendoran in the Firth of Clyde but later provided excursions around the estuary and from the centre of Glasgow at Broomielaw (where the picture above was taken). But in 1973 she was withdrawn from commercial service - a victim of continental holidays and increasing maintenance costs.
Fortunately, the Waverley was sold to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society - for the price of one pound. In addition to providing excursions sailing around the Clyde during the summer season, the ship also gains revenue by sailing on the south coast of England.
From: rampantscotland.com/timeline/october
Sir William Ramsay Biography
(1852 - 1916)
(born Oct. 2, 1852, Glasgow, Scot.—died July 23, 1916, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Eng.) British physical chemist who discovered four gases (neon, argon, krypton, xenon) and showed that they (with helium and radon) formed an entire family of new elements, the noble gases. He was awarded the 1904 Nobel Prize for Chemistry in recognition of this achievement.
Education
Ramsay, the only child of a civil engineer, decided at an early age that he would become a chemist. He studied at the University of Glasgow in Scotland (1866–70); during his final 18 months there he pursued additional studies in the laboratory of the city analyst, Robert Tatlock. In October 1870 he left Glasgow without taking a degree, intending to become a pupil of the German analytical chemist Robert Bunsen at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, but he abandoned this plan. Six months later, Ramsay became a doctoral student under the German organic chemist Rudolf Fittig at the University of Tübingen in Germany, where he received a doctorate in 1872.
Early research
After graduating from Tübingen, Ramsay returned to Glasgow to work at Anderson College (1872–74) and then at the University of Glasgow (1874–80). During this period, Ramsay's research focused on alkaloids (complex chemical compounds derived from plants). He studied their physiological action and established their structural relationship to pyridine, a nitrogen-containing compound closely resembling benzene. In 1879 he turned to physical chemistry to study the molecular volumes of elements at their boiling points. Following his appointment to the chair of chemistry at University College, Bristol (1880–87; he became principal of the college in 1881), he continued this research with the British chemist Sydney Young; they published more than 30 papers on the physical characteristics of liquids and vapours. This work helped Ramsay to develop the technical and manipulative skills that later formed the hallmark of his work on the noble gases. In 1887 Ramsay became professor of general chemistry at University College London, where he remained until his retirement in 1913. For several years he continued to work on projects related to the properties of liquids and vapours, and in 1893 he and chemist John Shields verified Hungarian physicist Roland Eötvös's law for the constancy of the rate of change of molecular surface energy with temperature. During the following year, Ramsay began the research that was eventually to make him the most famous chemist in Britain—the discovery of the noble gases.
From: bio.com
House of Scotland Pipe Band News
On behalf of the City of Poway's Annual Heritage Days Parade, committee organizerSusan Casey Davis made the trip to the Hall of Nations in Balboa park to present the Mazey Family Award for Best Band on Parade to Pipe Major Peggy Yuile of the House of Scotland Pipe Band.
The parade took place on Saturday 12th September to a large appreciative crowd that gathered along Poway Road, the city's main thoroughfare. The pipe band was adjudicated along with seven other very fine marching bands. Mrs. Davis commented that on the day,due to her other parade organizing duties elsewhere,she was disappointed at not being able to hear the band for herself. On hearing this,PM Yuile had the band play two tunes 'just for Susan' from their parade sets,"The Blue Bells of Scotland" and "Scotland the Brave". Peggy thankedSusan and the parade organizers for their kind invitation to participate in their parade and returned the compliment byextending an invitation to come and enjoy the House Lawn Show in the Park on Sunday October 25th.