An image of Branch 25’s participation and tent at the 137th Annual Scottish Gathering and Games.

The Pleasanton Weekly described the games as:

Publication Date: Friday, August 30, 2002

Scottish Gathering heads for Pleasanton
Labor Day weekend shows to pack Fairgrounds

The Caledonian Club of San Francisco will host its 137th annual Scottish Gathering and Games at the Alameda County Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, this weekend.

A highlight of this year’s games will be the World Heavy Events Championships, featuring some of the world’s strongest athletes. The current champion, Matt Sandford of Melbourne, Australia, will be challenged by competitors from Scotland, Canada and Iceland, as well as the top six Americans from the All-American Heavy Events Championships, held in Portland this summer.

In addition, the U.S. Women’s Heavy Events Champion, Shannon Hartnett of Sausalito, will defend her title, although the women’s competition is not sanctioned as a “World Championship.”

Celebrating the strong military and public alliances between the UK and the U.S., British and American military bands will perform in the Scottish Games. These will include the Scots Guards, Regimental Pipes and Drums of the British Army’s 1st Battalion, and the U.S. Marine Corps marching band from Miramar Naval Air Station. In all, more than 35 bagpipe bands will compete and entertain.

Pipe bands scheduled to appear at this year’s event in Pleasanton include the Los Angeles Scots Pipe Band, the Alberta Caledonia Pipe Band from Edmonton, Canada, and MacTarnahan’s Prince Charles Pipe Band from Marin County. At the end of both days, the bands, with more than 750 musicians, will mass together in front of the Grandstand to play traditional songs, including “Scotland the Brave,” “Amazing Grace,” “Salute to the Chief” and “Highland Laddie.”

On both days, Scotland’s animal husbandry traditions will be featured, including shows featuring hawks, eagles and other birds that are used for hunting, and Sheep Dog demonstrations.

The gathering of Scottish clans and families will be held both days in the Clan Tent area. A clan is a Scottish family, with its roots in antiquity, according to Russell Cramer of the Caledonian Club of San Francisco. At least 100 clans are expected to have tents at the games. Scots will be able to trace their family tree, get a copy of their clan’s coat-of-arms, catch up on clan news and participate in the March of the Clans.

Thousands of dancers will compete at the Scottish Games in Highland dancing and Scottish Country dancing. In Highland Dancing, more than 200 individuals will compete in categories of age and expertise, starting with 4-year-olds, with the most intense competition for the title of Western U.S. Highland Dancing Champion. In Scottish Country Dancing, groups of dancers will perform folk dances, with some groups competing while others entertain.

General admission tickets for the event are $14, with $4 discounts for seniors and youths under 17. There is also a $2 discount on tickets ordered in advance by phone at 800-713-3160 or through the Caledonian Club’s Web site at http://www.Caledonians.org.

The club also will sponsor a Friday night concert at the Fairgrounds Amphitheater, featuring the Scots Guards and others providing Celtic rock and folk music. Tickets for that event will be $10 at the gate.