Scots wha hae kent the Grey Cup
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Building a skating rink on Parliament Hill
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The rink is scheduled to open on December 7 -- in two weeks. On Friday it was announced that, rather than close at the end of the month with the Canada150 celebrations, the rink will remain open to the public into February.
Read MoreWhat a difference a week makes!
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If you believe winter comes to Canada on December 21, you haven't been paying attention! It hits different regions at different times. In Ottawa, we can expect a blast around Remembrance Day on November 11. This year, the skies were bright and clear, and so was the ice forming on the Rideau Canal.
Read MoreHosting Kilt Skates for 2018
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As a result, the amount of funding from the Scottish Government and other sponsors will depend on the size of the event and the opportunity it provides to showcase the sponsors. For 2018, there will be three different categories of participation in Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate.
Read MoreMontreal 2017 Kilt Skate Capital
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After hosting a spectacular event that brought over a hundred bare-kneed skaters out on one of the coldest days of January, the St. Andrews Society of Montreal has been awarded the laurels for Kilt Skate Capital of Canada for 2017.
Read MoreLondon Times quotes Kilt Skate blog
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The debate over Sir John A. Macdonald's place in Canadian history continues, and is being picked up on the other side of the Atlantic. In its analysis of the controversy, the prestigious London newspaper, The Times, quoted the kilt skate blog entitled "Sir John A.: Hero or Villain."
Read MoreSir John A.: Hero or Villain?
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Is Sir John A. Macdonald a hero or a villain? Should his statues be toppled and his name removed from schools? Or should we make his birthday a national holiday – and celebrate it with bare knees and ice?
Read MoreScottish Website Celebrates Alice Munro
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In its snapshot biography of the Canadian writer, the website outlines how Munro went through a tough literary apprenticeship when she began her studies at the University of Western Ontario in 1949. "Throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s there was a feeling that Canadian writers, especially female Canadian writers, were unwelcome intruders into the world of literature. This meant that for much of her early career, Munro struggled to find critical acceptance."
Read MoreSNALC! North American leadership
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Scots can be a clannish lot, taking care of our own affairs and letting others tend to theirs. But when we do get together to share ideas and compare challenges, the results can be invigorating. The Scottish North American Leadership Conference (SNALC) has been held in Chicago, Detroit, New York and Edinburgh. On August 10-11, 2017, in honour of Canada's 150th birthday, the 16th annual was held in Canada for the first time at the University of Guelph.
Read MoreGlengarry Highland Games
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But the principle focus of the Glengarry Highland Games is not reenactment but performance: both in music and in sport. More than 200 dancers attend, but the Glengarry event is especially renowned for its pipers. The Glengarry games are the home of the North American Pipe Band Championship. Pipers and drummers come from as far away as Austin, Texas, and San Diego, California, and as close by as Maxville, assemble on the field for the opening ceremonies.
Read MoreWinter is Coming
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The middle of summer may seem a strange time to be thinking about skating, bare knees, and ice. But the plans are under way to organize the Fourth Annual Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate.
In fact, there's a flurry of activity as we prepare for upcoming Scottish events where we'll raise the hockey stick saltire.
Read MoreSkating downhill -- really fast!
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There's one way that Red Bull Crashed Ice could be made even more exciting, of course. Next time, maybe we'll see them race in kilts!
Read MoreCanal skateway closes for the season
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But before we say goodbye to the skating season on the Rideau Canal Skateway, I want to give a big thank you to the NCC crews who worked through the night to groom the ice and get it ready for skaters the next day.
Read MoreWinterlude
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The National Capital region's annual winter festival began the first weekend of February, and stretched on for three weeks. It's been a great time -- big crowds, fun events. I wish I had taken in some of the concerts and viewed the ice sculptures and seen yesterday's dragonboat races on ice! What I did get to see was Hockey Day in Canada, in which over 150 games of shinny were placed on the canal between 8 and 9 a.m. yesterday.
Read MoreWinnipeg: Kilt Skate season ends on a warm note
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here's much that can be managed and controlled in hosting a kilt skate -- cake, hot chocolate, entertainment, swag. What lies beyond our control, of course, is the weather. As Rabbie Burns might have said, "The best-laid plans of mice and kilt skater gang aft agley."
Read MoreCalgary brings out the kilt skaters
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The kilt skate gods blessed Calgary with above-zero temperatures on Sunday -- but not so warm that the refrigerators coils could keep a hard ice surface at Calgary Olympic Plaza.
Read MoreCalgary ready to take to the ice
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Calgary's third annual kilt skate will be held this Sunday, February 12 at the Olympic Plaza from noon until 4 p.m.. Calgarians seem determined to wrest from Saskatoon the title of Kilt Skate Capital of Canada.
Read MoreOttawa: a perfect afternoon at Lansdowne
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Statistically, the bridge between January and February is the coldest week of the year, but when unseasonably warm temperatures closed the Rideau Canal Skateway, the Scottish Society of Ottawa moved Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate to Lansdowne Park Skating Court. If you pipe it, they will come! And we had three pipers -- all on skates.
Read MoreSaskatoon: Wi' a hundred skaters, an' a', an' a'
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Last year, Saskatoon was declared "Kilt Skate Capital of Canada." For the Third Annual Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate -- and the celebration of Canada150 -- the Saskatoon Highland Dancing Association redoubled its efforts and drew over a hundred kilted skaters among the 300 who gathered at Cameco Meesawin Skating Rink on a Saturday afternoon perfect for skating.
Read MoreOttawa Changes Venue -- and a crack team goes into action
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When it comes to organizing outdoor kilt skates, Mother Nature always has the last word. And so, with last week's warm spell continuing into the weekend across Eastern Canada, the Third Annual Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate had to be moved off the Rideau Canal. We're moving it to the Lansdowne Park Skating Court, where we held it last year. It's a great place for a kilt skate: refrigeration coils to keep the ice from melting; Zamboni service to keep the ice smooth; changing rooms to keep skaters warm; electrical outlets to keep our costs down.
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