California Maxwells
continue their high profile at Scottish events, as evidenced by
the Clan Maxwell tent at the recent Woodland (Sacramento Valley)
Scottish Games.
In the picture below, the Maxwell tent stands stark and alone on
a cold, windy Saturday morning, but it provided a warm welcome to
Maxwells and allied family members who braved the elements.
Fortunately, the weather warmed up on Sunday, drawing more people
to the annual event which is California’s second largest
Scottish festival.
The picture below, taken
from inside the Maxwell tent, shows the proximity to the outdoor
band stage. It made for a great view; however, the sound engineer
kept the amplifiers so high that usually-pleasant Scottish
melodies bordered on noise pollution.
There were a couple additions to the Maxwell tent this year.
First was the tent itself — a new EZ-up tent which is a bit
larger than the old one but with a significantly heavier steel
frame. The new tent is much easier for one person to set up, and
it sports a green canopy. A TV/VCR was on hand to let visitors
watch a video of last year's Siege of Caerlaverock reenactment.
To boost participation in the event, Al Reeder, our California
Commissioner, took an imaginative approach. He had postcards
printed with event information and clan contact information and
sent them to Maxwells and allied family surnames taken from the
local phone book and online white pages. And he had extra
postcards printed to hand out to visitors who requested contact
information.
The Woodland (Sacramento Valley) Scottish Games are second in
size in
California only to the Pleasanton (San Francisco) games which are
held each Labor Day weekend. The sponsors of the Pleasanton games
clam their event is the largest in the U.S., but officials of
this year's Woodland games were planning to research the record
books as they believe they may have the largest number of
athletes competing.
