It's a Wrap for the 2022 Kilt Skate Season

The 2022 kilt skate season wrapped up in the first-ever community kilt skate held in one of Canada’s Atlantic provinces — on a day when winter wrapped Prince Edward Island in a last cold embrace. The event in Tracadie, PEI, had been rescheduled for March 6 after rain storms had washed out the plans for a February event. Atlantic rain storms in February gave way to Atlantic blizzards in March, but that didn’t stop the hardy and proud Scottish community of Prince Edward Island.

The kilt skate was held as part of year-long celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of the arrival of 210 Catholic settlers who were fleeing religious persecution in Scotland. In 1772, under the leadership of John MacDonald, 8th Laird of Glenaladale, they built a community on land the laird had purchased on St. John Island (present-day Prince Edward Island), The Glenaladale Heritage Trust and the PEI Scottish Settlers Historical Society has organized a series of commemorative events which will be posted on their Facebook page.

The event organizer, Angela McDonell, reported, “Kilt Skate moments were had despite yet another nasty weather system. A few of us just couldn’t wait any longer. Ice was great and the snow was blowing sideways. A hearty bunch of Scottish descendants here on PEI!”

Not only did Angela come out to the Tracadie Community Centre with her skates — she also played the bagpipes. Whether the reeds could function in a storm is not reported.

The event didn’t draw as many people as Angela had hoped . “Unfortunately we didn’t have a huge turn out as the weather wasn’t great, and we had to reschedule so many times I think people gave up. We decided to go with the March 6 date anyway as it’ll likely be the weather will start getting too warm soon. There were times we thought we’d have to bring out the roller skates. “

Angela adds, “Thanks, Scottish Society of Ottawa, for helping us get together for #TheGreatCanadianKiltSkate ! If anyone still wants to get out - we definitely recommend checking out the rink at the Tracadie Community Centre. Share your photos with us if you do get out in your tartan!”

And over the past weeks and months, people across Canada have been doing just that — as part of the Great Canadian Kilt Skate — Home Edition. As the season winds down, a shout-out to Lumsden, Saskatchewan where J-P Bautista-Hunter organized his second annual Home Edition Kilt Skate.

This year, J-P and his daughter were joined out on the backyard rink by his daughter’s friend. That means that Lumsden saw a 50% increase in the number of its kilt skaters. Impressive!

But a special note of appreciation goes out to someone who I think may be the hardest working and most determined kilt skate organizer in the country. At the end of last year’s kilt skate season, John Wallace contacted the Scottish Society of Ottawa from his home in Sylvain Lake, Alberta. He was very eager to organize a community event, and we encouraged him to stay in touch for the next season. By this year, his work had brought him to Whitecourt, Alberta, where he sought an organization that would work with the Scottish Society of Ottawa on a community event. He also lobbied the mayor and city councillors to get involved. Alas, a community event was not to be — not this year. But he did recruit his friend Alastair Briggs to pipe while he skated.

That’s the spirit, lads! And next year, we hope to see more people kilt skating in Whitecourt, Lumsden and Tracadie — and all communities large and small. As we wrap up the 2022 kilt skate season, let’s let Alastair Briggs pipe us out. Looking for a piper for your special event? Check out Alastair’s website. See you on the ice next year, everyone!