Highland Games celebrate Scottish heritage

Friday, April 19, 2002 | 9:12 a.m.

What: Las Vegas Highland Games & Clan Gathering.

When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Freedom Park, East Washington Avenue and Mojave Road.

Tickets: $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and $5 for children (6-12 years).

Information: 396-0210.

Events

The following events will take place at the Las Vegas Highland Games & Clan Gathering in Freedom Park:

The Scottish folk group Caol Ila will perform at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

The Wicked Tinkers will perform at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Scottish dance competition will be continuous, 9:30 a.m-4:30 p.m.

Adult athletic events will be continuous, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Among the events for adults will be the caber toss, hammer throw and stone throw.

Children's events will be held from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and will include the caber toss, haggis hurl, egg/spoon race, obstacle course and three-legged race.

Freedom Park will be overrun with folks in kilts Saturday at the first Las Vegas Highland Games & Clan Gathering, sponsored by Desert Highlands Games Inc.

The event is a celebration of Scottish heritage, but you don't have to be a Scot to celebrate.

"Everyone is welcome, tourists and locals," said Deb Sgambati, who is married to a man of Italian descent who will be among the kilted celebrants.

While the games and other events will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the park, the celebrating will begin tonight at 7 p.m. at Fitzgeralds with a concert by the Wicked Tinkers.

The Wicked Tinkers will conclude the weekend of activities with a concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at Fitzgeralds.

The Gathering at Freedom Park will include food, entertainment and traditional Scottish athletic events, such as the caber toss (tossing a telephone pole-sized log).

"The ancient games were a test of skills and strength," Sgambati said. "It had a lot to do with war games. If you could toss (a pole) you could toss a log across a gully."

Sgambati said the games won't be competitive.

"It's more of a social gathering," she said.

Sgambati is secretary of the Desert Highland Games, which is a non-profit organization. Her ancestors -- members of the Ross clan -- came from Scotland.

Entertainment at the Games will include a concert by the Wicked Tinkers and by the Caol Ila, a traditional Scottish folk-singing band.

"The Wicked Tinkers have made many friends and fans,"event organizer Cely Kazanowksi said. "They bring so much energy to the stage, we are excited to showcase them."

Sgambati said there will be a number of pipe bands, including the Desert Skye Pipes and Drums, Phoenix Scottish and the MacIntosh Pipe Band.

There will also be relay races and other events for children, including a child ID program by the Masons.

There are a number of Scottish organizations in Las Vegas, including the St. Andrews Society of Southern Nevada, the Desert Skye Pipes and Drums and the Silver Thistle School of Dance.

Some members of those organizations formed Desert Highland Games as a means of celebrating the heritage of Scotland.

"Scottish culture holds a place in almost every sizeable town in America," Sgambati said. "Most of them have events (such as the Scottish games)."

She said there is a strong Scottish base in Las Vegas.

"A group of us saw a need for Highland Games," Sgambati said. "Games are put on across the country nearly every weekend, somewhere in the United States. A large one has not been held in Las Vegas for many years."

Sgambati said a separate group put on a Scottish games event in 1984, but there has been nothing like it since, and noted that the first Scottish games ever held in Nevada were 129 years ago.

"We just decided it was time to go ahead and show our Scottish stuff," she said.

To put on the games, several people created Desert Highland Games, which has an eight-member board but no other members.

"We're not a membership group," Sgambati said. "We formed specifically to put on this and other like events. It's a completely independent organization."

She noted that the state now has an official tartan plaid, thanks to Senate Bill 347, passed during the last legislative session.

Tartans are plaid cloth that represents a clan (Gaelic for family).

"Just as Nevada has a state bird and a state flower and state mineral, it now has a state tartan," Sgambati said. "Its made up of blues, silvers, whites and reds -- with every thread representing something about the state of Nevada."

She said the goal of the organization is basically to have a good time. "And to get information out about Scottish heritage."