Ormond Beach Celtic Festival April 15 & 16
We drove to the City of Ormond Beach, Florida to the city sponsored Celtic Festival. Ormond has the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Halifax River running right through the middle. The city still retains a lot of “Old Florida Charm”. The Celtic festival was held at Rockefeller Gardens Park, which sits right on the east side of the beautiful Halifax River at the bridge. As we came over the bridge, we could see John D. Rockefeller’s winter home, “The Casements”, with tents popping up all around on the grounds of the park.
The festival featured 5 music stages with music all day long on Saturday and Sunday. One of the major music stages was located next to “The Casements” where Clan Village is located. The clans enjoyed music all day. There were Highland Games down by the river and a kid’s area. There were lots of vendors selling food and an assortment of other things.
Clan Village is rather small, by some standards, but a pure joy for the clans attending. We were able to interact and make friendships that do not happen at large clan villages.
There was a group picture done, compliments of Clan Gregor. We were lucky enough to be setup next to the Clan Gregor and Rep. Lauren MacGregor Bower, who was honored Clan. We also got to visit with friends Jeffrey and Joan Money, who are Clan Buchanan. Our cousins the Campbells were there and very helpful to me in my setup. We had the pleasure of a visit to our tent from Chris Zwirn and his children who are happy to be Calhoun thru their mother. I had extra kilts and a tartan skirt so I dressed them up Scottish, which they really enjoyed. I also enjoyed seeing one of our longtime members, Debi Calhoun-Pollard. Harvey King and his sons paid us a visit, just in time for them to carry our banner in the clan parade. Thanks to Airon and Ryon King for a job well done! A special thanks to my niece Rachel Kelley, cousin Karen Kirk and Tiffany McCarter Evans and her husband Brandon for helping me staff the tent.
On Sunday the music stage was the site of the Dog Parade where pooches vied for prizes. That’s a hoot in itself! Cousin Karen’s pooch, Roo, won second prize which was $50 for a spa day! I highly recommend this quiet little festival to those who want to sniff a bit of salty air in a laid-back atmosphere. It was just great!
Caroline Calhoun – Florida