Posted on: Friday, April 5, 2002

Scottish ties celebrated with games, food, dance

By Chris Oliver
Advertiser Staff Writer

Melissa Lystad, a U.S. Navy sailor, practices for Tartan Day 2002, being held this weekend at Kapi'olani Park. . . . Tartan Day Scottish Festival • 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., tomorrow and Sunday • Kapi'olani Park • Highland games and athletics competitions, pipe bands, swordplay, dancing, Scottish clan information, traditional fare. Wear something plaid. • 363-0909 or www.scotshawaii.org

Chris Lowery has an interesting pickup line: "How much do ye weigh?" Followed by: "Do ye throw?"

Lowery, athletics director and heavy recruiter (pun intended) for the Hawaii Scottish Association, can size up a promising athlete in a side glance. The hard sell goes to those in the 250- to 300-pound bracket.

"Forget endurance," Lowery said. "In these games, you give 100 percent in two seconds. After that you're allowed to collapse and shout for a beer."

Scottish games are not for the faint-hearted. In fact they're not for anyone who worries about their heart at all.

When Tartan Day 2002 festivities kick off in Kapi'olani Park this weekend, athletes will compete in events that include throwing hammers, Braemar and Clachneart stones, and rolling pins; the haggis toss; heaving a 56-pound weight over a 9-foot bar; and that mysterious Highland activity, "caber tossing."

Tartan Day 2002 for Scots, watered-down Scots, blended Scots, and Scots at heart in Hawai'i is a Highland-style gathering, part of a nationwide Tartan Day celebration. Pipe bands, dancing and traditional food make for a bonnie, wee day but it's the Highland games that fascinate. Where else will you see men toss a 240-pound, 16-foot-high pole with finesse or women throw hammers with gladiator precision?

At a training session on the field fronting Tripler Army Medical Center last weekend, Andrew Kirchen prepared to throw a 22-pound Braemar stone.

With a roar that would startle horses, Kirchen heaved the stone — the size and density of a small meteor — in a slow trajectory to earth where it landed with a thud.

Kirchen, regarded as the favorite for the overall games title, seemed satisfied with the effort.

"The grunt is important," Lowery said. "If you can only squeak you're a goner."

Brute strength in big amounts, then, is the call. A state of grace best achieved, Lowery said, by consuming large amounts of food and beer at a certain bar and grill, downtown.

"Keeping fit means keeping our weight up, with optimum athletes being in the 250- to 300-pound category," he explained. "I got too fat to play rugby but I'm mighty strong. In these games, bigger butts do better."

Tonya and Rick Bowling are muscling up for the games by lifting weights several times a week.

"Women compete in all the same events as men, but at half the weight," said Tonya Bowling. Her favorite is "Weight over Bar," during which competitors swing a 56-pound (28 pounds for women) weight over their heads to clear a 9-foot-high overhead crossbar. "If you don't follow through correctly, the weight may not clear the bar and, instead, land on the competitor's head."

Undeterred by the bent metal bar, which ominously suggested many such failed throws, Bowling executed a perfect move.

Several thousand Hawai'i residents and Mainland visitors are expected to attend the festival as part of National Tartan Day, established by the U.S. Senate in 1998 to recognize contributions by people with a Scottish connection to the United States.

"We're keen to make this not only a celebration of Scottish culture but a celebration within the Hawai'i community," said Chieftain Ian Laing. There is no charge and everyone is invited to participate in the games, the dancing, playing bagpipes — everything that is going on over the weekend.

"The Scottish heritage is a great thing for Hawai'i and the Mainland," said Sandy McKeen, Hawai'i state coordinator for Tartan Day. "It's also fun, which is why we're having this festival."

Sponsoring organizations include the Caledonian Society of Hawai'i, Celtic Pipes and Drums of Hawai'i, the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Hawai'i Branch and the Saint Andrew Society of Hawai'i.