The Green Hill Highland Games are a celebration of the region’s Scotch-Irish heritage. Now in its ninth year, the event traditionally features the music, dress, and culture of Scotland, along with a display of unusual feats of strength in unique athletic competitions. The Highland Games date from the 11th century and nowadays are held around the world.
To emphasize that Scottish heritage, this year Athletic Director Chad Clark says that the event is adding a Rugby demonstration to the usual athletic contests. There is also a Scotch Whisky tasting for the first time.
The Games will be held at Green Hill Park in Salem on August 26. The event is sponsored by the Roanoke County Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Department and organized by Clark. He has served as its director for six years. Clark grew up in the Mount Pleasant area and is a 1990 graduate of William Byrd High School. He says he “got hooked” on the Highland Games competitions over 12 years ago, stemming from his athletic background in powerlifting.
The Rugby 7’s demonstration from noon to 1 p.m. is between the Roanoke Rugby Football Club and the Roanoke College Rugby Club. Rugby is a very fast-paced sport with seven players on each team in this variation instead of the usual 15 players.
Whisky is Scotland’s most famous export and has been produced throughout the country for hundreds of years. This year’s inaugural Whisky Tasting at the Green Hill Games is limited to 30 people on a first come basis, beginning at 1 p.m. at a cost of $25 with Scottish history thrown in for free.
Athletic competitions include the Open Stone Put, the Scottish Hammer Throw, the Sheaf Toss, the Weight Throw, and the crowd favorite Caber Toss in which competitors flip a log end over end so that it falls away from them as close to the 12 o’clock position as possible—style matters the most in judging.
In the Hammer Throw, a round metal ball (weighing 16 or 22 lbs. for men or 12 or 16 lbs. for women) is attached to the end of a shaft. With the feet in a fixed position, the hammer is whirled about one’s head and thrown for distance over the shoulder
Both male and female athletes compete, but in separate divisions. Everyone wears a kilt.
There are events for children, who can participate in a scaled down version of the competition, the Junior Greenhill Highland Games, using miniature implements in the Caber Toss, Stone Put, and Weight for Height competitions, with awards for participation. Children can visit with the Vikings of the Valley, who will be sailing their Viking ship around the park.
Added to the celebration of Scottish heritage and athletics, is a philanthropic purpose—raising funds for Warrior 360, a Virginia-based non-profit organization “which supports the needs and promotes the welfare of United States military service members, their families, and all others whose service to public safety generally place the welfare of others before their own, funding a variety of needs from medical care to home repairs.”
Last year about 70 competitors took part in the athletic events, including adaptive athletes representing Wounded Warriors 360.
Admission to the games is free, but Clark, whose father was a naval veteran, encourages those who attend to donate to Warrior 360, to benefit what he calls “our nation’s greatest treasure.”
This year there are even more bagpipe bands performing than in past years. The local and renowned Virginia Highlands Pipes and Drums Band have been with the event through the years and will perform at the opening ceremony and throughout the day.
Other bands performing periodically during the event include the Richmond Emerald Society Pipe and Drums, the Pipers Club, and a traditional Irish band, Duada, from the Blacksburg/Christiansburg area. Clark says the bands have been recruited through the efforts of his “ministers of music,” pipers Keenan Holt and Geoffrey Saur.
Over a dozen Scottish clans will be attending the games this year with their tents, emblems, and tartans on display to recount their histories and heritage.
There will be vendors selling kilts, tartans, Scottish goods, and athletic equipment, including Celtic Tides from Lexington with a variety of goods imported from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, Celtic Realms Leather, the House of Douglas Bakery, the Dapper Douglas Mustachery, author and artist Charles Bruce, Norse Fitness, IronMind Enterprises with strength training equipment, and the Richmond Piper Band. Marj Easterling and Big Lick Screen Printing will have t-shirts for sale.
There will be concessions from the French German of Charlottesville, Lumpys Ice Cream, Porter House Catering, and Ice Queen shaved ice. There is a beer garden opening at 11 a.m. with Ballast Point and Deschutes beers on tap.
The 2017 Green Hill Highland Games run from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. at Green Hill Park in Salem, located on Parkside Drive. The Opening Ceremony gets underway at 10 a.m.
Sponsors for the 2017 Highland Games in addition to Roanoke County Parks, Recreation, and Tourism include Virginia Prosthetics and Orthotics and WFXR.
More information is available at www.RoanokeCountyParks.com or on the Green Hill Highland Games Facebook page.