1. art and entertainment
2. dance

The Thistle
March/April 2015
January 2013
President’s Message
HAPPY TARTAN DAY TO EVERYONE!
Many of us will be attending one or more Tartan Day
Proclamation presentations celebrating National Tartan Day to be
held at Bradenton, Palmetto, North Port, Venice, City of Sarasota
and Sarasota County.
We hope that many of you will join us in celebrating these Tartan
Day Celebrations. For further information please contact, Mike
Wilcox for Bradenton and Palmetto, Bill Gibson for North Port,
Pauline Mitchell for Venice, Bert Mitchell for Sarasota County
and Al McIlraith for the City of Sarasota.
Shona Burtner and her Committee planned a very special
evening, aptly named “Dancing with the Scots” for our Annual
Thistle Ball on March 14th
We were greeted by Pipe Major Jack McCall, welcoming everyone
at the entrance to the elegant Laurel Oak Country Club and
throughout the evening. Shona Burtner and her Committee
planned a very special evening with lots of dancing throughout the
evening. The band was excellent, playing many old and
contemporary tunes and they seemed to have picked everyone’s
favorite music. After a snowball dance of the Gay Gordons filled
the dance floor, the music drifted to such popular dances as the
Electric Slide, polka and waltz. I’ve never seen so many people
dancing at our Thistle Ball before.
All that exercise was designed to work off those many calories
from the delicious meal. Thank you to the Committee for the great
choices and to the Chef for an excellent presentation.
Ellie Stoll did a magnificent job of obtaining over $4,000.00
worth of great Raffle prizes and despite the expert drawing of the
winners, by Pauline, Phyllis and myself, we couldn’t find our own
tickets in the bowl. Never the less there were many very happy
winners and we thank you all for buying the Raffle tickets.
What a magnificent evening with many happy memories.
Lihttps://caledonianclub.org
BOARD
MEMBERS FOR
2024-2015
President - Allan
McIlraith
Vice President –Shona
Burtner
Treasurer - Bob
Kradoska
Secretary – David
Laws
Director/Membership
Chair – Sioux Hurley
Director – Ellie Stoll
Director – Walda
Taylor
Director – Douglas
Schuler
Director – Caroline
David
Director – Linda
Mercurio
1
Please plan to attend our Annual General Meeting and Luncheon on May 9th at Stoneybrook
Country Club. Your new Board of Officers will be introduced during the Luncheon.
Remember to LIVE every Moment, LAUGH every Day and LOVE beyond Words.
Best Wishes to All. Allan McIlraith.
The Thistle Ball
THE 2015 THISTLE BALL HAS COME AND GONE and a great time was had by all! Thank you so
very much to everyone who came, bought raffle tickets, participated in our silly game, took to
the floor for the interactive dancing, had their picture taken by Maureen Ogilvie and stayed to
sing Auld Lang Syne with us at the end. We were thrilled to see so many people on the dance
floor all night long and the majority of them still there at the end of the evening.
We had 107 people attend, many of whom were from countries other than the USA. We had
members and guests from Australia, Canada, England, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland,
Scotland, Switzerland, Wales, and that is just the ones we know about! It was quite the
international gathering. Unfortunately, the President of the Alliance Francaise Club of Sarasota,
Carole Crosby, had a conflict that evening and could not attend, but she generously donated the
cost of two tickets.
Special thanks to our President Al McIlraith and wife Phyllis for all the support and
encouragement during the plotting and planning process this past 9 months, and for always being
the first to arrive and the last to leave every event because they stay to help clean up.
Thanks also to:
 Piper, Jack McCall, who came and piped for us in spite of being under the weather.
 The handsome greeters in kilts -- Bill Wallace and Manning Edmonds.
 Greeters/table escorts Ron & Doris Slorach and Grant & Gillian Phimister who are all brand
new members of the club.
 Edith Edmonds and Cherrie Randall for selling so many raffle tickets.
 Richard Baise, Don Taylor, and Bob Burtner, our “behind the scenes” men.
 Al & Phyllis McIlraith and Pauline Mitchell for helping draw the lucky raffle winners.
 All the many individuals and businesses who donated such fabulous items for our raffle.
 Of course we also have to thank the “dancing demonstrators”, those brave souls who got
together to practice the Gay Gordons before the Ball, and who did an outstanding job in
demonstrating how it was done.
A heartfelt thanks to Terry Neuss for coming along to enjoy cocktail hour with us, wearing her
jaunty hat adorned with tartan and thistles. It was good to see her look so well.
Thanks again …. You made all the hard work very worthwhile.
The Thistle Ball Team:
Judy Baise, Shona Burtner, Caroline David, Bobbie Hamilton, Diane Kemp,
Ellie Stoll, Walda Taylor, Jessica Ventimiglia
Lihttps://caledonianclub.org
2
Kathy and Linda
Ryan and Jennifer
Ellie and Jack McCall
Don and Walda
On the Dancefloor
Jean, Nick, David and Linda
Lihttps://caledonianclub.org
Cherrie and Claudia
3
Bob and Kathy
Betty Stewart with her Son-in-Law
Ellie and Edith
Richard and Judith Baise
Lihttps://caledonianclub.org
Bill and Jean
Walda and Bobbie
Shona and Bob Burtner
Phyllis and Linda
4
Norman and Dorothy
Ed Hamilton
Ed and Bobbie
Piper Jack McCall
Mary Lou and David
Linda and Bert
Terry Neuss
Save the Date for the Annual General Meeting
To be held at Stonybrook Country Club on May 9th. More details to follow.
Note from your editor: For easier viewing. Those of you who use Windows as your
operating system, you can, enlarge this newsletter on your screen by pressing the
control button and holding it while you move the wheel on your mouse forward
Lihttps://caledonianclub.org
5
National Tartan Day Proclamations
We will again be receiving official Tartan Day Proclamations from local
cities in Manatee and Sarasota Counties during the closest City Council
meetings. All Scots are invited to attend and join us for a toast to Scotland
and dinner at the nearest Public Establishment.
2 April Thursday @ 4:00 PM
Proclamation
North Port City Hall
Bill Gibson will receive the
6 April Monday @ 7:00 PM
Proclamation
Palmetto City Hall
Mike Wilcox will receive the
7 April Tuesday @ 3:00 PM
Proclamation
Sarasota City Hall
Al McIlraith will receive the
14 April Tuesday @ 9:00 PM
Proclamation
Venice City Hall
Pauline Mitchell will receive the
TBA
Proclamation
TBA
Bradenton City Hall
Mike Wilcox will receive the
Kirkin of the Tartans
On Sunday April 12, 2015 Tartan Day will be recognized jointly by the Caledonian Club and
the St. Andrews Society with a Kirkin of the Tartans. It will be held at the Church of the Palms
11:00 am church service. The church is located at 3224 Bee Ridge Rd, Sarasota, FL
34239. Piper Kevin Wiegard and “The Sarasota Military Academy Pipe Band” will pipe the
tartan bearers into the service. All members and friends are encouraged don your plaids and join
us for this special event.
NAME BADGES
Name Badges are available to
our members. They are
attractively designed, purple in
color and logo in white. They
are made by an engraving
company in Sarasota. If you
would like to order a name
badge, please send payment of
$10.00 to our Treasurer
Bob Kradoska, 8216 Simpson
Falls
Lihttps://caledonianclub.org
6
A poem of Gratitude to Members
of the Caledonian Club Board
Thanks a Million
Thanks a Lot
For what you Have Done
You won’t be Forgot
You made my Day
You made me Smile
You made me Giddy
For a While
You’re really Swell
You’re really Great
And that’s What I Appreciate
I’m tickled Pink
For all you Do
That’s why I Wrote This Poem for You
To Shona and Sioux and Walda
David and Ellie and Caroline
Bob and Doug and Linda
Phyllis and Pauline
A GREAT BIG THANK YOU FROM
AL
And all the Caledonians.
*Original poem from Paper Greetings.
Lihttps://caledonianclub.org
7
Report from Your
Nominating
Committee
Proposed 2015-2016 Board
The Caledonian Club Nominating
Committee, composed of Chairman
Walda Taylor, Phyllis McIlraith
and Bill Wallace, has nominated
the following slate of Officers and
Directors for election to the
Caledonian Club of Florida West
Board at the Annual General
Meeting on May 9th, 2015. Since
the slate of Officers and Directors
are now full, nominations are now
closed.
Co-Presidents Bob Antrim/Bill Wallace
Vice President Shona Burtner
Treasurer Bob Krodoska
Secretary Janice Iversen
Director Carolyn David
Director Manning Edmonds
Director Sioux Hurley
Director Diane Kemp
Director Ellie Stoll
Director Walda Taylor
Past President Allan McIlraith
Caledonian Foundation Liaison
Pauline Mitchell
CALEDONIAN CLUB
FOUNDATION MEMBERS
President
Pauline Mitchell
Secretary/Treasurer
David Laws
Trustees
Elizabeth Holman, Donald Blair,
Dr. Richard Baise, Dr. Edward
Hamilton, John Mitchell
Ex-officio member: Phyllis
McIlraith
Book Acquisition Committee
Chairperson: Dr. Richard Baise
Committee Members: Jean Wallace, Elizabeth Holman, Dr. Edward Hamilton, and Joanne
Anastatsia
Lihttps://caledonianclub.org
8