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Autumn at Arrowhead. Warm beautiful days.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
 
Photos by Cheri Ratliff
“Marley and Me” by John Grogan brought a light note to the Book Club luncheon
September 10, 2008. The ladies all seemed to enjoy the book about an unpredictable, fun loving, loyal golden lab. It is the story of families’ love and commitment to a dog.
 The luncheon menu consisted of “Barking Marley’s Spinach Salad, Chicken-Pecan Quiche and Woof,Woof Biscuits! (Cookies in the shape of dog bones and ice cream)
The puppy Grace was a special guest!
Not to be out done, Cimarron was equally welcomed by the group!
The Highland Festival September 27, 2008
Heath welcoming the contestants
Three big winners
Heath Houseman gives some back ground on the Games: the origin of the games pre-dates recorded history and most historians conclude that they came out of a need for the ancient Celts to develop skills to survive. In the 11th Century King Malcolm the 3rd of Scotland called a bunch of Scotsman together and formed a match of some kind that involved a foot race—some historians believe this was the beginning of today’s modern games. By 1703 clans were being called to arrive in Highland coats and come prepared to compete in the heavy events; they were also told to bring their guns, swords, what-have-you, so it’s pretty clear that in the early games competitive events would have also included swordplay and tests of skill with firearms. There are also some historians who will tell you that the Scots practiced tossing the caber, as well as other heavy events (stone toss, hammer throw, weight throw, weight over the bar) in order to secretly practice war-games. The idea with the caber was if you ran toward an English fort and tossed the caber properly, it would land on the side of the fort and then the warrior Scots would run up it, jump into the fort and kill all the English! The modern games, or the games as we now know them, as an event lasting all day with Highland athletes competing, dancers, music and food—as entertainment, really—began when King George the 4th visited Scotland in 1822. Even though the games had been held for many, many years before that in Scotland, they received a lot of attention from the King’s visit, and then you can argue that Queen Victoria’s support and love of the games catapulted them into the world spotlight. Anyway, you can safely say that the games as we now know them began in 1822. Anything before that is a little blurry.
 
The caber toss: “A long tapered wooden pole or log, stood upright and thrown by an athlete/competitor who balances it vertically, holding the smaller end in his finger laced hands, runs forward, attempting to toss it in such a way that it turns over end with the first end striking the ground.” The caber the athletes tossed here at the Inn was 16 feet long and weighed 100 pounds. I could not pick it up, let alone toss it.
The festival was complete with bagpipes
Watching Daddy compete!
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