This past Saturday, I made my first public appearance since my retirement from Radio back in March. It was my “Coming Out” party of sorts. And what better way to celebrate my “coming out” than by wearing a skirt!
Perhaps I should explain…
Over the weekend I had the honor of Emcee-ing the 161st annual Highland Games at Greenmead in Livonia. It’s a celebration of everything Scotish – and in keeping with the theme, I donned a kilt. (And trust me, after learning the hard way a few years back, I made sure to wear shorts underneath!)
The Highland Games is my absolute favorite event of the summer – a real family affair. There are games for the kids, traditional Scottish delicacies (can you say “shortbread”?) athletic competitions, and of course, bagpipers. Hundreds of them!
I can’t describe how amazing it is to watch row after row of people, decked out in the different colors and paterns of their “clan”, proudly marching across the beautiful, hilly fields of Greenmead, followed by two hundred-plus bagpipers decked out in full regalia, playing Scotish tunes in perfect unison. Truly remarkable! The only thing that could have made it more spectacular was if Lady Gaga had been the drum majorette!
I got to watch all this from an open-air stage filled with Scottish officials and local politicians. (Which worked out really well for the bagpipers when they ran out of hot air.)
After the bands played, there were plenty of games and physical competitions including “The Caber Toss”, “The Stone Put”, and Scottish military battle reenactments. (When the “Soldiers”, bedecked in traditional war garb fired their rifles simultaneously, Big Al jumped about a foot.)
Oh, yeah… I forgot to mention that Big Al was there with me. He thought that the people at the games might want his autograph because of his upcoming appearance on the new ABC television show, “Detroit 1-8-7”. He was wrong! But don’t forget to check out his Network television debut Tuesday September 21, at 10pm playing… are your ready for this… a Polka Band leader.
But I digress… Al was there to help me as I had the priviledge of judging the biggest event of the day - the annual “Tug-of-War”. The event features a host of teams including The U.S. Army, The U.S. Marine Corps, The Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and the (defending champion) Livonia Firefighters, among others. I judged each “pull” and then had the honor of declaring this years winner: The U.S. Marine Corps team. Kudos to The Marines and all of the tug-of-warriors!
And a special shout-out to Rick Snyder and Virg Bernero who staged a one-on-one tug of war. (As I write this they’re still pulling, so it’s too early to call!)
On a side note, Al actually came to the Games straight from visiting that fine Scottish lad, Kwame Kilpatrick at the Federal Prison in Milan, Michigan. He said he had a very nice visit with the former mayor, although Al now realizes it was a mistake to wear a kilt into a men’s prison! In fact as he left, he said the prison the inmates were still chanting “Big Cheeks Muskavito”!
All in all, it was a fabulous day and a first class event. They even beefed up the security this year at Greenmead… This was the first time I ever had my sporn searched. (confused? Just Google “sporn”)
And it wasn’t only fun, it was educational; I found out that the Scotish community had a lot to do with the successful plugging of the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. They stopped the leak by filling the pipe with cement and Haggis.
Have a great day… and if you get the chance, take a ride on an escalator. Why? On this date in 1859, Nathan Amos patented the “moving staircase”. Of course it was all downhill from there…
See you tomorrow!
- Dick