TAEM News Flash!

TAEM Attends the 2013 Robert Burns’ Dinner !

The Arts and Entertainment Magazine was proud to attend the 2013 Robert Burns’ Dinner hosted by The Fauquier Scottish Heritage Society at McMahon’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in beautiful Warrenton, Virginia. This is an annual event thrown by the society honoring the memory of Scotland’s most beloved poet.

Emmett Gallagher, the restaurant’s manager, presented a fine spread of food to choose from and his staff was both friendly and helpful. The table settings were reminiscent of olden times and the mood brought back memories of the Scottish Isles. Pipe Major Dave McCrabb opened the event and Jim Breeden, the Master of Ceremonies led the way. The Invocation was said by the Reverend Brian Turner, Presbyter followed by many readings from the works of Robert Burns.

Our publisher, Joseph J. O’Donnell, read the poem My Heart is in the Highlands as well as The Grace After Meals. TAEM even contributed to the door prizes with a gift of The Collected Works of Robert Burns. Prior to the meal the annual celebration of the Haggis, a Scottish meat that one needs to acquire the taste for, was presented in a grand affair with the accompaniment of Address to the Haggis.

After dinner Lt. Col. Laurence Young (Ret.) saluted the Bard with the reading of The Immortal Memory which tells of Burns’ Life and times. Pipe Major Dave McCrabb then played The Lament on the bagpipes in honor of the Poet. Mike Stenberg  also presented a number of the Bard’s poems. This was followed by several more readings and the hilarious Toast to the Lassies by Michael Montgomery. Not to be outdone by the men, Valerie Montgomery countered with an equally funny Response From the Lassies. Both these presentations were made with witty barbs from both genders.

Just prior to these verbal high jinks pianist Judy Myers played a number of Scottish tunes to the delight of the attendees, and a Highland Dance was performed by the graceful Katie Weathers. The dinner ended with songs sung by all those attending the dinner, including Auld Lang Syne. This was a fun time for all, and our magazine hopes to make next year’s dinner to enjoy the festivities once again.

TAEM

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2013 at 8:25 pm and is filed under News Center, Spotlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.