The new team of officers was duly installed at the March meeting. Because the St. Thomas' theatre was not available and the Ingram Room seemed a bit claustrophobic for bagpipes, for the first time ever the installation ceremony was held outdoors in the cloisters at the school, and very nice it was too. Two members of the Houston Highlanders piped in the officers and the swearing-in ceremony was handled very graciously by Jack Hume.
I am very proud to be Chieftain again for the coming year; my goal is to improve attendance at meetings and increase the membership. I took the opportunity in my acceptance speech to once again emphasize the urgent need to recruit newer younger members, and to encourage all members to aspire to executive office. This is the only way to ensure the future well-being of the Society. I am very pleased to report that already there have been some very good ideas presented as to how we might achieve this vital goal. These will be put to members at the meeting. We have a most interesting set of meetings coming up. The quality of the presentations we have is most certainly not the problem. I think the last couple of years have seen some of the best nights ever at H&T.
We have the Highland Games coming up next month at the Farm & Ranch Club in Bear Creek Park once again, and the Society has, as usual, taken a booth at which we will promote Heather & Thistle. This is one of our best chances in the year to get exposure to potential new members, so it is important that we man the booth for the entire two days. Please sign up at the April meeting to help out. We are also sponsoring the Al Campbell Individual Professional Piping Competition at the Games. Please turn out to support this event if you can, check the Games website www.houstonhighlandgames.com for the time and location.
A local Masonic group will be giving a period-costumed historical presentation about how our flag developed. Please support this performance and encourage all to attend.
The May meeting will be held a week early to steer clear of Memorial Day. This puts it right after the Games. Louisiana-based Rickey Pittman specializes in telling stories and songs about Scotland. He has appeared at Highland Games, Burns Suppers and Scottish Festivals all over the south. More details in next month's Newsletter.
We have filled our program through the June meeting, but we do need ideas for after the summer break. Please send ideas to our Program Chair Dr. Gordon Macleod at gordymacus@yahoo.com.
Robert Boyd
Chieftain