If the Home Edition competition for the Kilt Skate Capital of Canada were a horse race, the pack is rounding the bend and heading into the homestretch. One horse that has run off the pace is now making a determined bid on the outside and may overtake the leader. With one week left in the Great Canadian Kilt Skate, can Toronto’s plans to host a Zoom and Facebook kiltskate party win the roses? The early signs are that it can!

This Facebook ad hyperlinks to last week’s blog outlining Toronto’s plans. Over the past weekend since the ad was posted, the blog has had over 900 hits. The Clans and Scottish Societies Association of Canada (CASSOC), which is hosting the event, reports that in its first few days, The blog hits have come from across Canada and around the world, but are mostly concentrated in the GTA. CASSOC focused on a region with a 50-mile radius from the Mississauga lakeshore — an area with a population of about 6 million,. They targeted an age range of 18-65. They used two different ads and found, overall, that the ad with the older man tracked better than the younger girl by about 3:2.

 CASSOC’s William Petrie shared some of the lessons learned while he was designing the Facebook ad campaign: “The key point was focusing on a single call to action that brings the viewer to more details about the why, what, how to do. “ He also emphasized that the message that the event was FREE was an attention grabber. .Earlier this morning, William shared some of the statistics from the campaign so far:

• Placements where the ads have been seen : 29,321

• Links click to go to CASSOC Kiltskate.com  : 559

• Money spent : $99.78

Thanks to the partnership between the Government of Scotland and the Scottish Society of Ottawa, which organizes the national kilt skate, CASSOC and the other kilt skate partners across Canada are reimbursed for their costs up to $500.

Pretty impressive use of the kilt skate funding! We’ll see what the impact is in the coming days. Bear in mind that, as of this weekend, we had only one photo sent from Toronto.

 Toronto has been well behind the rest of the pack, including Glengarry — the current wearer of the Kilt Skate Capital laurels. Photos continue to come in from Glengarry.

After our call out to those whose pictures may not have reached us at our hashtags, we were able to retrieve several from Montreal including this one.

As the original home of the kilt skate phenomenon, Ottawa always has a strong presence, and the photos keep coming in, including this one from the nearby town of Almonte.

And Winnipeg, the current leader in the race to become this year’s Kilt Skate Capital of Canada, always has new photos each week, many from Cathy Laver-Wright who continues to skate every day, in spite of the Arctic temperatures.

What’s more, the kilt skate phenomenon continues to spread during the Home Edition. We have received our first photo from Atlantic Canada — Max and Carman in Moncton, NB.

In Victoria Harbour, ON, Alan Kay had an inaugural kilt skate on the shores of Georgian Bay..

And the ever-indominable Dave Johnston continues to spread the kilt skate gospel. This past week he brought the Home Edition to the ice at Big Rideau Lake in Portland, ON, home of the annual Skate the Lake.

To see the photos we’ve received so far, check out the Kilt Skate Gallery on the website of the Scottish Society of Ottawa. We anticipate that, with the Zoom and Facebook party coming this Saturday, we’re going to be overwhelmed with new pictures from the Greater Toronto Area — and elsewhere.

Because — listen — you don’t have to be in the GTA to take part in CASSOC’s Zoom and Facebook party.

Everyone is invited to join. Use your mobile device so they can tartan up and be out on the ice, the snow or whatever works in these interesting times.

On Saturday, February 27, between 11 a.m. and noon EST, join in the party on Facebook, livestreaming on CASSOC’s Facebook page:

Or join the Zoom party online. Register in advance for this party using the link After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining in.

So wherever you are in Canada or around the world, join us! (I’ll be there — and I’m in Dublin, Ireland. No skating here, but I’ll be sure to wear my kilt…)