What is the Gaitherin?
The Gordon Gaitherin seeks to foster an interest and participation
in the musical and cultural heritage of the North East of Scotland. This
is done by organising events for children and young people to actively
learn more about the culture and heritage of the North East through music
and drama.
A
New Year...The start of 1997 sees us planning a whole new year. We
hope to have two gaitherins again this year. This needs significant funding
and efforts are being made to find sufficient from sponsors, old and new.
We are also planning a family ceilidh in March. It is hoped that the newsletter
will become a regular feature informing you about what is happening.
FAMILY CEILIDH on 1 MARCH 1997 in KINTORE VILLAGE HALL.
IN THIS ISSUE...Plans for 1997 --- Funding --- Internet --- 1996 AGM --- Sponsorship
Family Ceilidh. The first main event of the year is to be a family ceilidh. This will be held in Kintore Village Hall on the evening of March 1. Children are welcome and we hope to have some live music and a well stocked bar! Do come along if you can and support the Gaitherin - it will be a good evening.
The Gaitherins. We hope to have two gaitherins, as we had last year, with Easter for the younger age group and October for older children. We will have a number of professional tutors, as usual, but we are always looking for volunteers to help with some of the “extra” activities - do consider if you can come along - even just for part of the time.
The Easter Gaitherin. This will be on the first week of the school holidays running from Monday 31 March to Friday 4 April. Due to circumstances beyond our control we may not be able to have residential places this year and instead we will try to provide buses running each day from suitable places. Leaflets will be coming round the schools soon, so look out for them.
The October Gaitherin. Planning is still in the early stages but we are looking at the week of the “tattie” holidays, with mostly residential places for older children. This limits the numbers and, as last year was very popular, an early booking is essential!
Funding. This is the time of year when we starting worrying about where all the money is going to come from! The Easter Gaitherin will cost around £10,000 to run with only just over half that coming in by way of fees. We will need a minimum of £2,000 just to get started this year and we would really like to look at a part time worker to be dedicated to the Gaitherin.
 Emma Lake, Saskatchewan - home of the Fiddle Camp |
We get a significant amount of support from Community Education. We have also benefited from sponsorship from local companies as well as the Scottish Arts Council. This year we are making a concerted effort to source funding from trusts and various organisations who support charitable causes. We are very hopeful to raise money in this way but it may take some time. So if you have any millionaire friends let us know! |
The Internet. We have been active on the Internet for nearly a year now and have had contact from many other similar organisations. There is a real interest in preserving our Scottish cultural heritage - probably more so in other parts of the world than Scotland! Many of them also advertise their presence on the Internet. Here are some “net-bites”......
The
term 'Celtic music' is a rather loose one; for the purpose of Ceolas,
it covers the traditional music of the Celtic countries - Ireland, Scotland,
Wales, Brittany (in France), Galicia (in Spain) and areas which have come
under their influence, such as the US andthe maritime provinces of Canada,
as well as some newer music based on the tradition from these countries...
...The University of Iowa Scottish Highlanders was founded in 1936. Its mission is to promote, teach, learn and perform the Scottish performing arts...
...The
Emma Lake Fiddle
Camp is held at lovely Emma Lake, Saskatchewan each summer. Nothing
can quite replicate the experience one receives attending camp, the camaraderie,
the food, the classes, the concerts and the ubiquitous fiddlers practising
on every tree stump...
...Welcome to The BPW! I'm your host, Howard "Sledge" Sanford. If you have a specific question about bagpipes or bagpipe resources on The Web, check out the new and improved, vitamin fortified, whole grain, Bagpipe Web.
Annual General Meeting. Last year’s AGM had to be postponed due to bad weather but a small but enthusiastic(!) group met on 5 December 1996 in Ellon. The Chairman made his report, the audited accounts were accepted and outline plans were drawn up for 1997.
Drumming.
As reported in the last newsletter - there is an opportunity to do some
more traditional drumming. The Kintore Pipe Band is running drum classes
on Thursday evenings in Kintore. Contact Jack Fullerton on gaitherin
e-mail
Sponsors. We are grateful for the sponsorship we received in 1996 and look forward to thanking some more this year! Last year, our sponsors included: The Scottish Arts Council, Leonard’s Music, the Clydesdale Bank, Rizza’s of Huntly, Marlene Ross (Runrig), Grampian TV, Tawse, Lawrence Milne & Sons, William Strachan, AMEC, Burnett Building Services, John H Connon, Boyds of Huntly and Lawrence of Kemnay.
The Management Committee. Sadly we say goodbye to yet another member - our former Chairman - Andy Duff. Andy has been involved with the Gaitherin since the start - so a big thank you for all your help Andy. We welcome Wilma Smith (Community Education) and John Sangster. It would be great if some more parents would be able to help. No previous experience is required! We meet less than once a month so if you have children who enjoy the Gaitherin please think about it.
Contacts
Deirdre Macdonald (Community Education at Insch) or
please contact us by e-mail at gaitherin@tillybin.wintermute.co.uk
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