In Memoriam
Sir Jim Walker CBE
1944-2024
We have just received the sad news of the passing of Sir Jim Walker, who we honored last month with our Wallace Award alongside Young Scot Siobhan Mackenzie. We are so glad to have been able to celebrate his life in such a joyous and meaningful way.
As we noted on presenting the award, he was truly the ultimate ambassador for Scotland. As we turn the page to 2025, we share strong thoughts with the Walkers Family.
Sir James Nicol Walker CBE passed away in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on Sunday 15th December, 2024.
James, known as ‘Jim’ joined the family bakery alongside a workforce of 16 people and learnt every aspect of the work involved. During his long career, Jim was responsible for sales and marketing – he was the company’s first salesperson. For over 60 years, he dedicated his life to creating and building the iconic Walker’s brand across the world. Jim was incredibly hard working; he was devoted to building strong personal relationships founded on trust with those he met on his travels. Many of these became enduring partnerships, lasting decades.
In his role as Joint Managing Director alongside his brother Joe, Jim was the driving force of Walker’s sales growth, developing the business from a small family bakery in Aberlour to a globally recognised brand, achieving £184m of turnover in 2023 (from £40,000 in the year that he joined), and being awarded the Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth in 2002. Intensely proud of the company’s Speyside roots, and dedicated to his colleagues and the community, Jim’s leadership and vision were instrumental in shaping Walker’s into the company that it is today.
He will always be remembered as a devoted, energetic and kind man who was an inspiration to many who knew him. We will honour his memory by continuing to uphold the values and legacy he built over a lifetime of dedication.
Read the full statement on our website blog: www.walkersshortbread.com/blog/
Donald Maclaren
1954-2023
Donald was a good friend to American Scots–he had visited the States numerous times, as the “honored chief” at various U.S.-based highland games events–and was also a good friend to Tartan Day. It was our pleasure to have him be the closing speaker of the 2023 New York Tartan Day Observance in Bryant Park this year.
Donald MacLaren was born in Scotland in 1954 and succeeded his father as Chief in 1966. He was the 25th Chief of the Clan since Labhran, name-forefather of the Clan, eight hundred years ago. Donald was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford; Trinity College Glenalmond in Perthshire, where he learned to play the pipes; and Edinburgh University, where he took a MA Hons. degree in Classics and English and played rugby for the combined Scottish Universities XV. He joined the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1978. After postings in Berlin, Moscow, Havana, Caracas and Kiev, he served in Tbilisi, Georgia as Her Majesty’s Ambassador. He left the FCO in 2008.
Queen Elizabeth II
1926 - 2022
The Board and members of the American Scottish Foundation shares in the great sense of sadness as we mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. We offer our deep condolences to the Royal Family at this time.
God Save The King - Long live King Charles III
As we mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we share with you a link to the on line Condolence Book available at Buckingham Palace via www.royal.uk.
The British Consulate General in New York. is open through Friday between 10am and 3pm for one to visit and sign the book in person:
British Consulate General, 47th Street entrance, 885 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017.
In Memoriam - Clark Scott
Clark Rhea Scott, 81, of Charlotte, North Carolina, took his final flight on May 1, 2022, surrounded by his immediate family.
Clark was born on May 13, 1940, to John Coy Scott and Clara Lee Carnes in Centralia, Illinois, and he grew up in East Texas and Venezuela with his sisters Clara Dan and Glenda. Clark attended San Marcos Military Academy for high school, Southern Methodist University for his undergraduate degree, and the Universidad de Madrid and Tulane University while working towards his Master’s degree in International Studies.
In 1961, Clark met his wife, Judith Josefina Campos of Anaco, Venezuela, at the Mobil Oil Company Club. They married in 1969 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and were married for 52 wonderful years. Clark and Judith recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with extended family and friends in Charlotte.
Clark began his aviation career with Pan American World Airways in 1966 and spent almost three decades with the company that never left his heart – during his time with Pan Am he lived around the world in Wake Island, Saigon, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Oxford, and Washington D.C. Even after the company ended operations in 1991, Clark (referred to affectionately as ‘Scottie’ by his colleagues), kept in touch with his Pan Am family for the rest of his life. Clark often regaled his family and friends with stories of his Pan Am adventures, looked forward to reunions and visits with his dear colleagues, and enthusiastically collected PA memorabilia emblazoned with the words ‘gone but never forgotten.’ From meeting Lauren Bacall and Ringo Starr to having to jump in as a flight attendant on a 14-hour flight to Australia during a strike, he derived much joy from his fulfilling and exciting career with the company.
After a hasty departure from Saigon with his newborn twins hidden in animal boxes, Clark settled in Palos Verdes in Los Angeles for over two decades. During this time, Clark was a generous supporter of Vietnamese orphanages and helped many former employees and Vietnamese refugees establish residency by organizing support through St. John Fisher church in Palos Verdes, California.
After September 11th, Clark was hired by the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. where he utilized his extensive knowledge in aviation to work for the benefit of the newly established International Air Marshall Program. Although Clark couldn’t share the details of his work, his family often bore the brunt of his security clearance because when they wanted to travel somewhere, he would often reply ‘do not go there - I can’t tell you why!’ Quietly, humbly, and always with a smile, Clark performed his duties to secure the safety of international airways until his retirement in 2016.
Clark’s closest friends and family knew that Clark was an academic and historian at heart - he had an encyclopedic knowledge of history, genealogy, and his family ancestry. Clark, called “Buddy” or “Tio Boddy” by his American and Venezuelan families, could cite events and dates off the top of his head which always amazed those who knew him (and who secretly wondered if he was making it all up.) His interest in genealogy led to his true life’s passion and volunteer vocation: Scottish heritage. He was a member of Clan Scott for over 40 years, the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (COSCA), and Scottish Heritage USA. He proudly served as the Chieftain and Vice President of Clan Scott and Treasurer of COSCA. He attended many Scottish games and counted his trip to Clan Scott’s ancestral seat, Bowhill, and his attendance at the induction of Duke Richard to the Order of the Thistle as some of his most treasured memories. An Armiger, Clark was recognized as a direct descendant of Walter Scott of Harden (‘Auld Wat of Harden’) and received his Coat of Arms from the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms.
Clark was predeceased by his father John Coy Scott, his mother Clara Lee Carnes, sister Clara Dan Bolin, brother-in-law David Bolin, and sister Glenda John Fults. He is survived by his wife Judith Josefina, twins Candice Lee and Sean Rhea, daughters Andrea Marie and Lan, grandchildren Christian, Cat, and Johnny, and many nieces and nephews including Nancy, Scott, Stevie, Adriana, Hugo Cesar, Elsy, Boris, Pedro, Muriel, Cecilia, Fabiola, David, Ian, Rebeca, Carlos Alberto, Alex, Joanna, and Jenny Natalia.
A Funeral Mass for Clark will be held Saturday, May 14, 2022, at 10:00 am at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church at 292 Munn Road East, Fort Mill, South Carolina, 29715. The mass will be streamed live at saintphilipneri.org and a repass will be offered at the church directly following the service.
Services and burial will take place at the Red Hill Cemetery in Murchison, Texas on May 18, 2022, at 11:00 am where Clark will receive military honors.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Clan Scott Scholarship Program, P.O. Box 18099, Denver, CO 80218.
Like Pan Am, Clark is ‘gone but never forgotten!’
In Memoriam - Vartan Gregorian
Vartan Gregorian, an international luminary, legendary educator, distinguished historian and humanities scholar, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, died suddenly on April 15, 2021, in New York City at age 87. He had been hospitalized for testing related to stomach pain.
Gregorian served as the twelfth president of Carnegie Corporation of New York at the time of his death. During his tenure, beginning in 1997, he championed the causes of education, immigration, and international peace and security — key concerns of the philanthropic institution’s founder, Andrew Carnegie. Like Carnegie, Gregorian was a naturalized United States citizen whose experiences in a new country helped shape him, including his belief in the great importance of immigrant civic integration to the health of American democracy.
Gregorian was especially devoted to higher education and was the highly respected president emeritus of Brown University and the former provost of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Gregorian is renowned for revitalizing The New York Public Library during his presidency in the 1980s. The recipient of more than 70 honorary degrees and dozens of significant awards, he was decorated by the governments of the United States, France, Italy, Austria, Armenia, and Portugal. His extraordinary story is told in his autobiography, The Road to Home: My Life and Times, published in 2003.
At the Corporation, Gregorian focused the foundation’s grantmaking on aiding the development of innovative ideas and transformative scholarship. During his presidency, Carnegie Corporation of New York awarded more than 10,000 grants totaling some $2.8 billion. He will be sorely missed by all who crossed his path in whatever manner during his long and fruitful life, but especially by those of us who had the good fortune to call him a friend and colleague.
In Memoriam Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh
The American Scottish Foundation is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and send our deepest condolences to The Queen and the Royal Family at this very sad time.
Kenneth Donnelly, Chairman, The American-Scottish Foundation® reflected ... "I am saddened to learn of the tragic passing of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
"HRH contributed so much to Society, in particular the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme for youth which was formed in the same year ,1956, as the American Scottish Foundation.
"The Duke of Edinburgh Scheme was launched during post war era of rebellious youth, for example the mods and rockers, and was originally seen as "old fashioned idea".
The aim was to broaden the horizons of the young and encouraging them to participate in healthy and social activities. Today the program has grown worldwide.
Mr Donnelly continued - "From my house in Callander, Scotland I frequently encounter youth groups participating in the program, backpacking and orienteering in the Trossachs and generally having fun which is all part of the achievement award scheme "
Prince Philip’s ties to Scotland began in childhood, with his education at Gordonstoun School in Morayshire.
The robust education he received at Gordonstoun inspired him to send all three of his sons there. He subsequently established the Duke of Edinburgh Awards for high achievement in young people – to date, children from 60 countries have participated in this prestigious program, which emphasizes outdoor athleticism and hiking, and has now reached millions of the world’s youth. His connection with Scotland also extends to the University of Edinburgh, which he served as Chancellor for 57 years, retiring from that role only in 2010.
In Memoriam Sir Sean Connery
Sir Sean Connery Accepting the Wallace Award
in 2001 in Washington, DC
It is with great sadness that the American Scottish Foundation shares this post today following the passing of Sir Sean Connery who had recently celebrated his 90th birthday in August.
In 2001 ASF was honored to present the ASF Wallace Award to
Sir Sean by for his outstanding contribution to Scotland and International relations on the steps of the Capital. The presentation made by Alan L Bain, was part of the Washington DC 2001 celebration of Tartan Day.
ASF Chairman, Kenneth Donnelly was present that day and shares a tribute and memories of one of Scotland's great icons.
"Sir Sean Connery was an inspiration to all Scots around the world. From his days in Edinburgh working odd jobs as a milkman, then bodybuilder to world class actor he inspires us all to take full advantage of all the opportunities in life.
"He was fully involved in supporting the idea of Tartan Day in America celebrating Scots contributions to the United States.
"I recall back in 2001 standing proud with Sir Sean Connery,
Senator Trent Lott, Vice President Dick Cheney and many others on the west steps of the Capitol building as Sen. Lott read the Congressional proclamation of Tartan Day as April 6th.
"Picture this Sir Sean coming down the steps of the Capitol in his kilt where many US Presidents have been sworn in, raising his arms in salute and the crowd raising a mighty cheer, "Scots Wha Hae"
In 2002 Sir Sean once again celebrated Tartan Day with us in the US, but this time as Grand Marshal of the New York Tartan Day Parade up Sixth Avenue - a great moment that all of us involved in NYC Tartan Week remember or know is one of the great moments of the Parade history.
Here is a link to a video of Sir Sean's remarks delivered on the steps of the Capital courtesy of AP
Thank you Sir Sean for all you have done to promote the culture of Scotland.
Duncan MacDonald
Duncan MacDonald, a quiet powerhouse of a woman who lived a vibrant, varied life died July 18, 2020 at the Henrietta Brewer House in Vineyard Haven, MA. She was 104.
She was born Dorothy MacDonald in Beaumont, Tex. on Nov. 4, 1915. She made her way to New York City at age 19, participating in the early days of television. “When Dumont Channel 5 — one of the first television networks — became a reality, I became the manager of women’s and religious programs. And being a woman in this brand-new industry gave me an edge, really, over a lot of other people,” she recalled.
“I directed the first soap opera, A Woman to Remember. And the first shopping program. I produced a morning breakfast show on religious topics for Norman Vincent Peale. There were other projects on other subjects. And of course all these things, each one opens up another channel.”
She served as executive director and founding trustee of the National Friends of Public Broadcasting, and as New York President of American Women in Radio and TV. She was recognized for her work on behalf of the National Council of Women, and received a UNICEF award for her work with the Organization of American States.
A late-in-life introduction to her Scottish heritage led to interest in all things Scottish, and became a passion. It began with volunteer work in New York with the American Scottish Foundation. When she attended the Scottish Games organized by the Caledonian Foundation in North Carolina — singing dancing, traditional games — she was enthralled. She eventually served as vice president of the foundation, helping to establish Tartan Day as a national day of observance in the United States to spread the word about Scottish contributions and achievements. Her hope was that it would inspire others to honor their heritage.
She was given the distinction as Scotland’s First Lady in America for her lobbying efforts, including Congressional recognition of Tartan Day in the United States. She also served as an officer of Scottish Heritage USA, a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and a life member of The Clan Donald Society USA.
A graveside service was held August 1, 2020 at the Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven.
To read the full obituary, please click here.
Duncan A. Bruce
American-Scottish Foundation is greatly saddened to announce that Duncan A. Bruce, a pillar of the Scottish-American community, long-time board member of the ASF, and recipient of the ASF's Wallace Award in 2011, has passed. A noted author and historian, he was most known for his work "The Mark of the Scot."
"Through his dedicated research and love for Scotland, Duncan educated us all on the real and meaningful contributions the Scots have made to America," noted Kenneth Donnelly, ASF Chairman. "His insightful knowledge and facts inspired us all and will live on into the future through his books and publications. He was an immense figure in the Scottish community and will be forever in our thoughts."
A graveside service was held on Saturday, November 30 at Woodlawn Cemetery, 4199 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
Alfred George Bisset
We are saddened to hear that Alfred George Bisset, a longtime member of New York’s Scottish community, passed away peacefully on November 3. His beloved wife, Asa, passed away recently in May. Surviving him are his five children and 12 grandchildren.
Fred was born in 1941 to Hilda and Alfred Bisset, hardworking Scots who had immigrated to the US. Proud of his heritage, Fred often wore his kilt at special events. He was part of the very first New York Tartan Day Parade in 1999, which marched up the sidewalk.
A graduate of the University of Florida, Fred moved to NYC and began working on Wall Street at Francis I. DuPont and E.F. Hutton. There, he and Asa met, fell in love, married, and started a family in Darien, CT.
“His charismatic personality and unprecedented drive led him to start his own firm in currency management,” reported the Darien Times, “and in 1981, he opened A.G. Bisset and Company in Rowayton, CT. Though his commute to the office was only a few miles, his work took him all over the world.”
“When not traveling for business, exposing his children to foreign cultures and countries, Fred was often enjoying jazz at the Tokeneke club or singing old Scottish tunes for friends as an involved member of the University Club, the New York Yacht Club, and President of the St. Andrews Society of New York. A board member of the Herreshoff Marine Museum, Fred was often seen with his beautiful wife in the Rowayton harbor on his old Herreshoff wooden boat, Corsair, sporting a captain’s hat and a smile.”
Services will be held on Saturday, December 1, at 1:00 pm at Noroton Presbyterian Church, 2011 Post Road in Darien, CT.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the ALS Therapy Development Institute by going to www.als.net/donate.
Ellsworth G. Stanton III
We are saddened to share with you the news of the death of Brick Church member and Clerk of Session Ellsworth G. Stanton III, who passed away earlier today.
Even in the midst of our sadness we stand strong in our faith and are reminded of these words from Holy Scripture, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, says the Spirit. They rest from their labors and their works follow them."
Mark Beaumont
American-Scottish Foundation® Graphic Designer/Web Developer
It is with great sadness that The American-Scottish Foundation® shares the news of the passing of our colleague Mark Beaumont, our long-time graphic designer and web developer, after a long battle with cancer. He slipped away on January 19th, surrounded by his family.
His last days were filled with messages of love and remembrance from friends around the world. An active member of the British American community undertaking design and web development for many organizations.
A keen photographer, Mark would often attend events capturing just that image we needed - this was particularly true around the New York Tartan Day with his long shots of the Parade.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, MaryAnn, and his children, Katherine and John. A gathering of friends is planned for Mid February.
Mark asked that we toast to his life. To Mark.
Robert R. Douglass, Longtime Adviser to Rockefeller Family, Dies at 85
The American-Scottish Foundation is greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Robert "Bob" Douglass, a wonderful Patron, friend and mentor of the Foundation, and past recipient of the ASF Wallace Award.
By Sam Roberts, New York Times. December 6, 2016
Robert Douglass, then manager of Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller’s presidential campaign, in 1968. Credit Arthur Brower/The New York Times
Robert R. Douglass, who was among the last surviving members of Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller’s inner circle, an adviser to David Rockefeller and the Chase Bank, and a catalyst in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, died on Tuesday at his home in Greenwich, Conn. He was 85.
The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, his son Andrew said.
Mr. Douglass was counsel and secretary to Nelson Rockefeller, the four-term Republican governor from New York. He also managed his short-lived 1968 presidential campaign and shepherded him through contentious confirmation hearings for the vice presidency in 1974, when Rockefeller was recruited by the newly elevated president, Gerald R. Ford. The hearings in Congress drew hostile fire over Rockefeller’s personal finances and potential conflicts.
Mr. Douglass was later general counsel and vice chairman of Chase, the bank long associated with the Rockefeller family. Nelson’s brother David was the bank’s president, chief executive or chairman from 1960 to 1981 and, at times, the largest individual stockholder.
For two decades, from 1995 until he retired in 2015, Mr. Douglass was the chairman of the Alliance for Downtown New York, the self-taxing business improvement district — the largest in North America — organized by the Downtown Lower Manhattan Association, which David Rockefeller founded in 1958, when the Financial District was wilting.
“Bob gave me wise and thoughtful counsel, never once letting me down,” David Rockefeller said in a statement after Mr. Douglass’s death. “He was always an honest broker to our family.”
Mr. Rockefeller’s decision to build a 60-story headquarters for the bank at what became One Chase Manhattan Plaza, coupled with the Rockefeller family’s commitment to the construction of the original World Trade Center, helped revive Lower Manhattan and reaffirmed Wall Street’s claim to be the world’s financial capital. (The bank building, which opened in 1961, was sold by JPMorgan Chase in 2013 and renamed 28 Liberty Street.)
After the twin towers were destroyed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Douglass’s organization joined with others in reinvigorating Lower Manhattan and capitalizing on its metamorphosis into one of the city’s fastest-growing residential neighborhoods.
“Among his unusual, if not unique, attributes,” Carl Weisbrod, who was president of the Downtown Alliance and is now chairman of the City Planning Commission, said in an interview, was “his depth of understanding of how government functions and how the business world functions — and how to meet the needs of both.”
For years Mr. Douglass was literally the fair-haired boy — blond and eternally youthful, still referred to as Bobby well into his 80s and so close to the family that he comfortably had his own home at the Rockefellers’ summer sanctuary in Seal Harbor, Me.
Fresh from law school, Mr. Douglass was a protégé of George L. Hinman, a Republican national committeeman from New York and political strategist who played for Nelson Rockefeller the role that James A. Farley had performed, more successfully, a generation earlier on the national stage for one of Governor Rockefeller’s Democratic predecessors, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Because Governor Rockefeller was not a lawyer, Mr. Douglass, as his counsel, played an outsize role as an adviser and in overseeing legislation. One such bill created the Narcotics Addiction Control Commission, which preceded the draconian Rockefeller drug laws and was aimed at rehabilitating addicts. Another, the Taylor Law, enacted after a disruptive walkout in 1966 by transit workers in New York City, banned strikes by certain public employees.
In 1971 the governor dispatched Mr. Douglass to be his observer during the 1971 Attica prison riot in upstate New York, which left 10 corrections officers and civilian employees and 33 inmates dead after exasperated officials ordered the State Police to end the siege. They stormed the prison in what one prosecutor later branded a “turkey shoot.”
The governor agreed to most of the inmates’ demands except for amnesty. Mr. Douglass later distanced himself from the final decision to retake the prison. “I was only an observer,” he said.
Robert Royal Douglass Jr. was born on Oct. 16, 1931, in Binghamton, N.Y. His father was an executive with Link Aviation, famous for building flight simulators. His mother, the former Frances Behan, was the daughter of a mayor of Binghamton.
Mr. Douglass received a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1953, graduated from Cornell Law School and served in the Army. Hired by Mr. Hinman’s law firm in Binghamton, he had already been retained to do legal work for the Rockefeller family when he was recruited to be the governor’s assistant counsel in 1964.
He was counsel to the governor from 1965 to 1970 and secretary to the governor through August 1972.
In Albany he became closely involved in Rockefeller’s presidential ambitions.
Theodore H. White, the author of “The Making of the President” series of books, described him as “the ablest of the Rockefeller delegate managers” during Rockefeller’s 1964 campaign and “a man of extraordinary ability” when he assumed management of the off-again, on-again and ultimately losing 1968 campaign. Richard M. Nixon was nominated at the Republican National Convention on the first ballot.
After leaving government, Mr. Douglass was an executive vice president at Chase; a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; of counsel to the prominent law firm Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy; a director of Rockefeller Center Inc.; vice chairman of a real estate investment trust in Greenwich, Urstadt Biddle Properties; and the chairman of Cedel International and Clearstream International, a securities clearinghouse.
In addition to his son Andrew, he is survived by his wife, the former Linda Ann Luria; another son, Robert; a daughter, Alexandra Brooke Metcalfe; and seven grandchildren.
Richard Norton Smith, the author of “On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller” (2014), described Mr. Douglass in an interview as “a surrogate of sorts” who “had none of the baggage accompanying Rockefeller’s relations with his own children.”
“Yet another member of Rocky’s Dartmouth mafia, he played to the governor’s creative side,” Mr. Smith said, “welcoming even his most offbeat ideas — bridging the East River to Queens at 42nd Street comes to mind — while employing humor deftly to change the subject or get around the dreaded N — for No — word.”
But Mr. Douglass could also be an effective enforcer. After the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Mr. Smith wrote, Mr. Douglass’s mandate was to twist legislators’ arms for a bill that would empower a new state agency to override local zoning and build low-income housing for the poor.
“ ‘I know you don’t like the bill,’ Douglass told a legislator from Rockland County, ‘but you’re on the list of guys who are going to vote for it,’ ” Mr. Smith quoted him as saying. “The alternative, warned Douglass, was to wake up one morning to find the runway of Stewart Air Force base extended ‘right through your goddamn district’ (other versions of the story specifically targeted the lawmaker’s house).”
Lady Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton, 1909-2013
The American-Scottish Foundation® is deeply saddened to report the death of its last living co-founder, Lady Natalie Douglas-Hamilton, on January 14, 2013.
Details of her remarkable life can be found in her obituaries in the London Times and New York Times, both linked from our History page and below.
Our thoughts at this time are with her family and all those who were close to her. Lady Natalie's funeral service was held on February 2, 2013 in New York City.
Thomas Grotrian - 1973-2011
Thomas Grotrian was instrumental in developing the World's biggest massed pipe band in Edinburgh, 1995. It was his vision and determination that brought thousands of pipers and drummers together to march along Princes Street to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
It was this event that became the inspiration for Pipefest and since 1995, massed pipe band parades under the Pipefest banner have taken place in Edinburgh, New York, Chicago, the US Grand Prix, Indianapolis, Rome, Paris, Shanghai and Nova Scotia. Over £750,000 has been raised for cancer charities by the players taking part and spectators along route. Highlights have included: the Millennuim Piping Festival attended by HRH Prince Charles; marching through Manhattan led by Sir Sean Connery and Mayor Bloomberg; marching under the Eiffel Tower in Paris; opening the US Grand Prix in a parade led by Sir Jackie Stewart; and Pipefest 2005 which attracted players from 32 countries.
After Pipefest 2005, Tom summed-up working on massed pipe band events: "we have had great fun". Indeed - there are many great memories, proud moments & fun times, all thanks to Tom!
Donald and Eleanor Taffner
The recent passing of Donald Taffner, Sr. on September 6th 2011, less than a year after the loss of his wife and business partner Eleanor Taffner, is of great sadness to the American-Scottish Foundation®.
The Taffners were Life Members of the Foundation and receipients of the ASF Wallace Award in 2005. Leading philanthropists, they lent their support to many international charities and initiatives.
The Taffners were presented with the Wallace Award for their extraordinary devotion to the Glasgow School of Art and the preservation of its Charles Rennie Mackintosh archives. They were the first Americans without Scottish ancestry to receive the award.
Other past receipients of the Wallace Award include Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Sir Sean Connery, the Forbes Family and Senator Trent Lott.
Cliff Robertson
Cliff Robertson at Tartan Day 1999
The American-Scottish Foundation® is greatly saddened by the passing of Cliff Robertson. Best known for his acting roles, including his portrayal of John F. Kennedy as a wartime skipper in “P.T. 109" (1963), Robertson was a passionate lover of Scotland.
As Alan Bain, President Emeritus of the ASF explains, “Cliff Robertson loved Scotland and all that is Scottish and we were honored when he agreed to lead us in our very first Tartan Day Parade in 1998. We marched up Third Avenue from the British Consulate to the United Nations with Cliff as our Grand Marshall. He enjoyed it so much that he agreed to take on the task again the next year with the band of the Lothian Police Pipes and Drums leading us into Central Park up the Literary Walk. Without his support and the attention he garnered for us in those early days, the parade might not have grown to what it is today with thousands now lining Sixth Avenue”.
The ASF were proud and honored that for many years Cliff Robertson served as a Vice President of the Foundation.