A note from the editors...
The weather at the Gatlinburg games this year
made it hard to get around to see folks, but we still had
a good turnout of hearty Smiths who remained in remark-
ably good spirits. Newman carried the Clan Smith flag in
the Kirkin' service, which he had not been able to do last
year because it was just after his heart surgery, so he was
very proud and thankful to be able to participate this year.
Both he and Dan are on the Board of Directors of the
Gatlinburg games and both stay busy with their respective
duties. Dan is in charge of selling the games' tee-shirts
and Newman is the vendor chairman, so, as you can
imagine, they both stay very busy during the games in
addition to manning the Clan Smith tent.
In spite of the weather the Parade of Tartans had
a good representation with Dan and Marti Smith,
Newman and Peggy Smith, Sharon Culler, Marilyn Culler
Fran Lawson, Cynthia Anderson, Mildred Talley, Robert
and Donna Worden. We were thankful that the rain
stopped long enough for us to march around the field,
even though it was a muddy trek in places where there
was no grass. Debbie and Mike Clark had been there
earlier in the weekend and they marched with us on Friday
afternoon in the parade that goes through main street in
Gatlinburg. Also marching in the parade with the Smiths
were Cynthia Anderson, Dan Smith, Newman and Peggy
Smith. Robert and Donna Worden marched in the
parade, but this year they marched with Clan Donald, as
Donna is a member of Clan Donald. (The Parade of
Tartans on Sunday was long enough that they were able to
march first with Clan Donald and then march with Clan
Smith!) We enjoyed getting to visit with Robert and
Donna, from Kentucky; Cynthia Anderson, Mildred
Talley, and Scott Smith all from Knoxville during the ban-
quet after the parade at the Ramada Inn.
This year at Grandfather Mountain the weather
was great, but attendance was down by quite a bit. There
were very few new folks there in attendance, and for one
reason or another there were not as many Clan Smith
Society members who came this year. Still, all of us who
were there had a great time together. It is always good
to visit and catch up on news.
Dan and Marti Smith and Newman and I manned
the tent, with help from Debbie and Mike Clark. It was
chilly in the mornings, but with no rain this year! After
the horrible weather at the Gatlinburg games in May the
good weather was very welcome indeed!
For Newman and me it was very special to be back
at Grandfather Mountain after missing last year because
of Newman's staph infection after his heart surgery. He
was very proud to be able to carry the Smith tartan in the
Kirkin' of the Tartans service.
Sharon Culler was the Clan Smith Society represen-
tative at the Torchlight Ceremony and at the Calling of
the Clans. This was the second time she had represented
us and, as before, she did a wonderful job. She is such a
trouper too, as the last time she had represented us she
got soaked in one of those downpours which Grandfather
Mountain is known for. Yet she went on to represent us
just the same! This year she did not get to stay for the
entire weekend as she was helping her mother Marilyn,
also a member of Clan Smith, to recuperate from serious
surgery. We are thankful to report that Marilyn is heal-
ing and the prognosis is very good. Many prayers have
been going up for Marilyn from Clan Smith members...
During the meeting we decided that because we
have had more members attending the Gatlinburg games
than the Grandfather Mountain games the past few years
that we will move our annual meeting to the Gatlinburg
games next year. There are quite a few of our members
who, for one reason or another, have stopped coming to
Grandfather Mountain. For several of our members it is
because they have grown older and are no longer able to
drive the distance to Grandfather Mountain. We miss
these members very much and we always look forward to
hearing from them through letters and emails. Many
times at our annual meeting we have several issues to
decide and we need as many members as possible to be
there to voice their opinions and vote on particular
issues; so we thought that to move the annual meeting
to Gatlinburg was the best thing to do for all concerned.
In addition to the members shown on page one in
the picture after the annual meeting at the clan tent,
other members who came by the tent included Marion
Mullen, from Florida, and her granddaughter Brianna,
who marched with us in the Parade of Tartans. New
member Steven Smith also marched with us in the Parade.
of Tartans. We are very proud to have both Steven and
his wife Heather as new members who signed up at
Grandfather Mountain.
It was good to see longtime member from VA,
William James Smith and his wife Betty. We had not seen
them in several years, so it really was good to see them
again. William stays busy heading up the Virginia-
Carolina Scottish Society.
I attended the meeting with the representative for
the National Trust of Scotland as he talked about the
Culloden Memorial stepping stone project. Our Clan has
ordered one of the stones which will have Clan Smith
Society inscribed on it. It was a most informative talk
and the project sounds to be very worthwhile and much
needed. There is an article about this project on page
four of this newsletter.
It was a very enjoyable weekend filled with
Scottish music, tartans, and great folks!
We had planned to have this newsletter out before
now, but due to some computer problems we are later than
we had hoped.
All of you who have access to the Internet please
check the Clan Smith Society website to see new pictures,
with several from the Grandfather Mountain games. We
have uploaded the entire newsletter to the website, and we
will be adding more articles periodically.
We hope that all of you have a wonderful Autumn!
Peggy Smith