Ligonier Highland Games open up 46th year at Idlewild
Long before sports such as beach volleyball and badminton made their way into the events lineup at the Olympics, athletes in early games competed in events such as the discus throw, hammer throw and shot put, events that continue today.
Scotland has its own variations of the throwing events with its stone put, weight throws, and the hammer throw. Each of those events will be demonstrated Saturday -- along with the caber toss and 20-pound sheaf toss -- in the heavy athletic competition at the Ligonier Highland Games.
Jim Pauli of Saxonburg, David Strunk of Glenshaw and John Severance of Malvern will be adjudicators at Saturday's events. As field judge, Pauli oversees the competition, which will include eight professionals and 15 amateurs this year.
This year's competition has special significance for Pauli, as it will be the last time his son Jason, 34, competes as a professional. Another son, Kurt, 32, also competed before moving to Detroit, and their dad took part in the athletic events for 18 years before becoming a field judge.
Jim Pauli says he attended his first Ligonier Highland Games in 1976. He had a track-and-field background and saw the competitions were similar, so he entered as a walk-on that year.
He says the most difficult event for the athletes is the caber toss "which everyone calls the telephone pole toss." It requires competitors to hurl an 18-foot-long, 130- to 150-pound caber to land in a designated location. The event measures accuracy rather than distance, Pauli says.
On Saturday, the pro events start at 8:30 a.m., and the amateur competition gets under way at 9 a.m.
David Peet of Bethel Park, one of the organizers of the Ligonier Highland Games, says this year's event includes two new features, including a daylong seminar for beginners in Scottish Gaelic to be held Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Wingate Inn in Latrobe.
Sunday's activities include a Scottish worship service at 10:45 a.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, North Market and Church streets, Ligonier, and music entertainment from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Diamond in Ligonier.
Visitors don't have to be Scottish to enjoy a variety of activities and entertainment planned all day Saturday at Idlewild Park, Peet says. From piping, drumming, fiddling, Scottish harp and Highland dancing competitions, to demonstrations of sheep herding and Scottish breed dogs, the festival offers a variety of choices.
A number of vendors will serve authentic Scottish delicacies and offer Celtic harps, clothing, jewelry and more throughout the day.
Iona, a traditional pan-Celtic band from the Washington, D.C. area, will return to Ligonier after a six-year hiatus, says Bernard Argent, who plays wooden flute, whistles, doumbek (drums) and sings with the group.
He labels the music his band plays as "high-energy folk, not rock." Songs represent the music and dance of all the Celtic countries -- Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Asturies and Galicia -- in addition to American Celtic sounds. Members encourage their audiences to clog along, dance Breton line dances, and join in singing.
Argent says the music of Celtic nations has continued to thrive because of its importance to the people who live there and those who have relocated to the United States.
"Music is a way of keeping their nationality's identity so far from home," he says. "There's a richness to the music that a lot of people can relate to. The tunes are infectious, the subjects are timeless."
And, there's one more reason why Celtic music has survived, according to Argent, who attributes its popularity in part to "the sheer stubbornness of the Celts."
GAELIC WORKSHOP
As of earlier this week, only a few spaces were left in the "An Introduction to Gaelic," seminar that will be held Friday at the Wingate Inn in Latrobe.
The seminar, will focus on the basics of modern spoken Gaelic, "cracking the code" of the written language and Gaelic folk songs. Philip Smith Jr. professor emeritus of language and linguistics at West Chester Universtiy who's conducting the seminar, says there has been a resurgence of interest in the language, especially at Celtic festivals across the United States.
Smith Jr., professor emeritus of languages and linguistics at West Chester University, contends that no language -- even traditional Gaelic spoken by the Scottish today -- is difficult to learn to speak.
"Writing it is a different matter," he says.
Smith gave a series of four lectures last year on Scottish languages at the Smithsonian Institution. He taught Gaelic at the university level and for many years wrote a Gaelic column for The Scottish Banner. He writes an Irish column for The Boston Irish Reporter. His degrees include a Bachelor of Arts from Pepperdine University, a Master of Arts from University of Nevada-Reno, a Ph.D. in foreign language education from Ohio State University and a Certificate of Advanced Studies from the Gaelic College at Sabhal Mor Ostaig on Skye.
Some basic Gaelic greetings, along with phonetic pronunciation and translations:
Madainn mhath -- mah-cheen vah -- Good day
Feasgar math -- fes-gur mah -- Good afternoon/evening
Ciamar a tha sibh⢠-- kimmer uh hah sheev -- How are you?
Tapadh leibh -- tap-uh leyv -- Thank you.
Additional Information:
Details
46th annual Ligonier Highland Games
When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
Admission: $15; $12 senior citizens; $5 ages 6 to 12; free for age 5 and younger.
Where: Idlewild Park, Route 30, (2 1/2 miles west of) Ligonier.
Details: (412) 851-9900 or www.ligoniergames.org .
OTHER EVENTS:
Friday
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Seminar on the Gaelic Language. $5, by reservation only. Wingate Inn, Route 30, Latrobe. $5 per person by reservation only.
7 p.m.: Scottish dinner at Mountain View Inn, $34 by reservation only
8 p.m.: Informal Scottish Country Dance party, with music by Scottish fiddler Ed Pearlman, Mountain View Inn. $7 per person.
Details: (412) 343-3265.
Sunday
10:45 a.m.: Scottish worship service at Covenant Presbyterian Church, North Market and Church streets, Ligonier
1 to 3 p.m.: Music at the Diamond in Ligonier.
