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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Scottish Terriers: More than 200 years ago the Cairn terriers earned their keep routing vermin from rock piles found on the Scottish farmland. On Saturday, they were a favorite at the Highland games.
Highland Games come to Campbell
By Sheila Sanchez
More than 2,000 people braved hot temperatures Saturday to participate in Campbell's 23rd annual Scottish Highland Games at the Campbell Community Center.
The crowd pleased the games' sponsors since last year the event was poorly attended as record-breaking temperatures scorched the valley.
The games were sponsored by the Campbell Highland Games Association, a nonprofit organization established in 1993, to coordinate the event and celebrate Celtic heritage.
"We're represented by all the Celtic groups," said Bob Chessman, chieftain of the games, as a blanket of colored tents and flags and hundreds of men in kilts adorned the community center's grounds.
Chessman explained that money made by the games is used to host the event the following year. When the organization makes enough money, its board of director gives academic scholarships to Bay Area students. Scholarship recipients must study a field related to Celtic studies, such as dance, music, piping or drumming.
Last year, the games didn't make any money because of low attendance due to the hot weather, he said. In 1999, the games made enough money to continue the next year. The organization gave two scholarships in 1999. No scholarships were given in 2000.
"Even though we're an independent organization, we work in conjunction with the city of Campbell and the Chamber of Commerce. They help us out enormously every year," Chessman said. "We're grateful for their support and the people of Campbell who attend the event."
One of the games' most important events was the World Professional Stone Put Championship, hosted by the Scottish-American Athletic Association that gave the games the right to have the championship. "We are proud to say that we bring a world championship to Campbell," Chessman said.
Athletes from New Zealand, Australia and Iceland have participated in the event.
"They like to come and leave with the title," he said. "The games are like a three-ring circus."
On Friday, June 15, at about 5:30 p.m., Sam Summerscales, owner of the King's Head Pub restaurant, took the caber--the big pole Scottish athletes throw during competition--from the bar of his King's Head British Pub, and joined a procession of bagpipers and a clansman who piped it over to the Community Center for the start of the 2001 Campbell Highland Games.
With the bags under their left arms, the drones over their left shoulder and determined looks in their faces, the pipers blew loudly to inflate the bags until their faces were red.
"The games bring back the heritage in which Campbell was founded," Summerscales said. "We try to bring back as much heritage as possible by having Celtic nights every Thursday with different Celtic musicians coming to jam with different instruments."
Betty Deal, executive director of the Campbell Chamber of Commerce, said, "It's fascinating to hear the sounds that come out of the pipes and the drums. I love the marching and the formation that they present,"
In addition to the stone put championship, athletes competed in the caber toss, the hammer throw and weight and height for distance.
The Browne Sisters and George Cavanaugh, Distant Oaks and fiddler John Taylor and the King's Head Bangers entertained throughout the day.
Many bagpipe bands competed for awards judged by the Western United States Bagpipe Band Association.
"One of the purposes is to preserve the art of the pipes," Deal said.
There was plenty of food at the celebration and beverage booths and lots of vendors of Scottish wares and books.
Chessman said it's appropriate the games are held in Campbell, because it's a city with strong Scottish heritage.
The games were started in 1979.
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Campbell, California
