Highland games proposed for Museum Day celebration

By Ian MacKay

Highland games competitions could join the next Museum Day activities.

During a late-January meeting, members of the Rosetown and District Museum Association welcomed a proposal to include weight throws and other competitions for the June 7 celebration. They decided to discuss the idea more before deciding.

A couple of dozen more salt and pepper shakers are destined to join this collection at the Rosetown and District Museum after members assessed and catalogued recent acquisitions last week. Photo by Ian MacKay

“It’s not as much of a brute-force event as you’d expect it to be,” said AJ Nichols, a member of the Saskatoon Scottish games organization who manages Market Tire in Rosetown.

“It’s more (using) techniques,” Nichols said. “It’s a lot of fun when once you start trying it. You don’t need a whole lot of strength to be reasonably good at it.”

A typical full-scale event involves stone throws, hammer throws, throwing weights for distance and over a bar, the sheaf and cabe, most with at least two different weights, he said. Competitions involve different weights for men and women and for those for people weighing more than 200 pounds.

People compete behind a safety cage, usually at least eight feet high, built to create “a cup around where you’re throwing” Nichols said.

He suggested an event here could attract up to 10 people from Saskatoon and that members of the city club could conduct practice sessions in Rosetown in advance for newcomers who’d like to join in the fun.

“We’re always trying to grow and expand,” Nichols explained.

On Jan. 27, museum members went though the acquisition process for many of the items donated over the past few months, identifying donors where possible, deciding which to keep, then photographing and numbering them and deciding where to store them or put them on display.

Also, the museum association is staging a Valentine’s Day tea, offering cookies, squares, coffee and tea from 2 to 4 p.m. on Feb. 14.