2011/12 Branch Essay Contest
Full details of the 2011/12 US and Canada Branch Essay Contest have already been published in the last two editions of the Branch Newsletter which can now be downloaded from the Member's secure area of this website.
Alternatively please click here to read more about the contest. Candidates should be aware that the closing date for entries is 31st January 2012.
Information about the winner of the 2010 contest can be found further down this page.
Added 31/12/2011
Branch Newsletter
The December edition of the US and Canada Branch newsletter has now been e-mailed or mailed to Branch members. It is also available for download from the Members Secure area of the website.
Please use this link to advise us if you have changed your e-mail address.
Updated 20/12/2011
Bob MacThomas
We were sad to learn of the recent death of Bob MacThomas, a former Convenor of the US Branch. Bob was Convenor for several years starting in 1998 and is remembered for initiating regular newsletters, emphasizing the state "rep" system, and starting annual branch meetings. He gave the Branch an energy and sense of family that had not been felt before. We send our heartfelt sympathy to his family who supported Bob in his Society endeavors.
Added 16/05/2011
Photographs
A selection of photographs from a member's recent visit to Scotland appeared on the front of the latest US & Canada Branch newsletter. Further photographs from this visit have now been added to the "Member's Favourite Photographs" section of this website. Please click here to view these.
Please contact the webmaster if you have photographs relating to the Clan that you think would be suitable for display in this area.
Added 24/04/2011
We have a winner!!!
The Executive Committee of the US and Canada Branch is very pleased to announce that Dylan Weaver, Grandson of Branch members, David and Audrey Scott, submitted the winning essay in the 2010 US and Canadian Branch Essay Contest. Dylan’s wining essay, "McComie Mor: MacThomas Folk Hero", compares our favorite MacThomas ancestor with some American folk heroes and how he might be viewed in today’s world. Click here to read the essay and to learn more about Dylan and Meriel Bradford, the contest judge.
Added 03/04/2011
U.S. and Canada 2010 Branch Gathering
The U.S. and Canada Branch held their 2010 Branch Gathering between the 3rd and 5th of September 2010 in conjuction with the Wisconsin Highland Games at the Waukesha Expo Center, Waukesha, Wisconsin.
The photograph on the right shows some of the members attending the Gathering. Further information and photographs of the meeting and will appear in the next edition of the US and Canada Branch newsletter and will be added to the website in due course.
A new member's reflections on the Gathering can be found in the Member's Only area of the website and will appear in a future edition of the US and Canada newsletter. Please click here to view this (you will have to enter your username and password).
Added 19/09/2010
Updated 03/10/2010
Scottish Heraldry
Rod Mooney, Honorary Vice President of the Clan MacThomas Society, and Newsletter Editor of the Clan's U.S. and Canadian Branch Newsletter, represented Clan MacThomas at the September meeting in New York City of the Committee on Heraldry of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society. This meeting was co-sponsored by The College of Arms Foundation, the American representative of the College of Arms of England.
The program for the meeting was:
"Introduction to Scottish Heraldry Using Campbell Arms"
- An Illustrated Presentation by Paul Campbell.
Clan Campbell was one of the most successful clans in Scotland, rising to positions of great power and influence. Part of that success was that they were one of the most extensive clans. As the rule in Scotland can be summarized as "one man, one coat," Campbell heraldry can also be described as extensive and used to introduce the characteristics of Scots heraldry.
Paul Campbell, Editor of the Journal of Clan Campbell Society (North America), Member of the Advisory Board of the American College of Heraldry, and himself a Scottish armiger, will give a presentation introducing distinctive features of Scottish heraldry using the arms of members of Clan Campbell as examples. It will be an evening of gyronnies of eight suitably differenced.
For further information please click here.
Added 04/09/2010
Updated 23/09/2010
US and Canada Clan MacThomas Library
Some of the information in this news item is out of date.
The US and Canada Branch of Clan MacThomas has established a library at the Scottish American Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A collection of well over 300
books of Scottish related material previously owned by the Clan Bard was bequeathed to Clan MacThomas and transferred "in trust" to the Scottish American Center during the last week in July. Center Directors Sandy Poole and Tom King made a road trip to Connecticut to take possession of the library, signed a Memorandum of Agreement, and returned home to Minneapolis without incident. The Center's generosity in underwriting this transfer has been greatly appreciated by the US and Canada Branch of Clan MacThomas.
The Scottish American Center is now in the process of cataloguing all volumes, and will be housing the collection in a distinct section of the Center. The collection will be available to the general public for in house reference only. Our Branch hopes to build on the collection over time and to establish a long term relationship with the Center.
The purpose of the library is to:
● Provide a repository for applicable books and records which clan members may
wish to preserve.
● Support the research of students and/or authors on Scottish subjects.
● Provide a resource for Branch members wishing to further their own knowledge
of Scotland.
● Establish a better recognition of our small clan within the broader Scottish
community.
For further information on this important project please use this link to contact the US & Canada Branch.
August 2009
Updated 27/09/2009
Updated 30/12/2011
Talented Clan Members
The photograph on the right features Kaela, Catriona and Taylor Palmer who regularly win medals in Scottish Dancing competitions in the US.
The girls are the daughters of US and Canada branch member, Heather Palmer, and the granddaughters of Rosemary and Ron Thom.
There is another photograph of Catriona in our Highland Games section.
For further information about their Scottish Dancing successes please click here.
June 2009
Award for Branch Member
Rosemary Thom, a member of the US & Canada Branch, was named as the "Ray Pence Memorial Southern Nevada Scot of the Year" at a recent St Andrew's Society of Southern Nevada Burns Night supper. Rosemary has worked tirelessly for St Andrew's for many years and is a past President. Additionally she is the secretary for the North American of Clan Maitland. Rosemary and her husband, Ron, joined Clan MacThomas in 2000 and together they organise the tents for Clan MacThomas and Clan Maitland at the Las Vegas Highland Games in April of each year.
For further information of Rosemary's many activities (makes me feel tired - wm) please see the June edition of the Branch Newsletter.
April 2009
Clan Wedding
Branch member Meriel Bradford and her husband Jim are pictured at her son Tolly's wedding. Tolly Bradford and Leslie Harrington were married in Huntington, Ontario in Canada on August 16th, 2008. Tolly is the great grandson of Henry James MacThomas Thoms of Dundee.
On this lovely day, Leslie and Tolly were piped to their wedding reception to the tune, Bridal Air, which was originally composed by Brenda Thoms Beament for her grandaughter's wedding in 1993.
Further details of this wedding can be found in the October 2008 edition of the US and Canada Branch Newsletter.
October 2008
Another Clan Wedding
In October 2008, US Branch member Cyndi Ludemann married Ed Goodreid in Oakdale, Minnesota, USA. The bride is the daughter of US and Canada Branch Convenor, Cathy McComb Ludemann and her husband Jerry. The photograph below shows the happy couple with Cathy and Jerry.
Earlier US & Canada Branch News