January 24 
56th Annual Burns Supper at the Marriott Briar Park hotel. **
February 15 
Celtic Festival at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, will be held in conjunction
with The Gathering of the Celts from noon to 5:30 pm - 19th Street at Heights Blvd. in the Houston Heights. Following the
church's 10:30 am service as bagpipers lead everyone to the "Kirking of the Tartans" and on to musical performances on
two stages. Performers include the World Champion St. Thomas Pipe and Drum Band, Jed Marum, Hugh Morrison, Constant
Billy, Kristen Jensen, Ghost of a Rose, Celtic Chorus of Houston, Good Times Scottish Dancers and Kilderkin International
Dancers. A wide range of artisans and craft vendors, great food and drink, games, crafts and activities for children of
all ages will be available. Admission is $5 per family, $3 per person and free for children under 10. Call 713-861-5596
or www.saintandrewsepiscopal.org/celtic-festival-2009/ for more details.
**
Feb 27 
Annual General Meeting at
the Sam Houston Steamboat House, 8045 N. Sam Houston Parkway W. Houston, TX 77064. We're changing the format this year
and this will be a luncheon at 11:00am instead of a formal dinner. Cost will be $22.50 per person (members) and
$30.00 per person (non members). We will be entertained by an historic figure and enjoy a delicious luncheon.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
We need to confirm the number of attendees by the 15th of February so please send details ASAP. For more information,
e-mail:Rebecca@ElvesandMore.org or Call 281-460-3596. Reservations can be made by sending your name, address and
telephone number to our treasurer, John Fowler at 1050 Del Norte Street, Houston, TX 77018,
and you may pay by check or M/C or Visa by providing your card
number and expiration date.
April 6th 
Tartan Day Memorial Celebration from 1:00 - 3:00 pm at the San Jacinto
Monument in honor of all those of Scottish ancestry who fought for Texas independence. We will have several direct
descendents of the Battle of Texas Independence, including Sam Houston IV! Participants will receive free admission
to the museum and a private viewing of the film “Texas Forever!”, a short but excellent film on the history. Visit
the website for more information and directions http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/. For more information, call Sia Beaton at
832-659-5501.**
May 2 
Offshore Technology Conference Scottish breakfast, 9:00 AM
at the Hilton Post Oak Hotel - it will again be jointly sponsored by the British American Business Council as it
was so successfully done for the past two years.. Our speaker will be Derek Mathieson, President and Chief Technology and
Marketing officer of Baker Hughes. Mr. Mathieson joined Baker
Hughes from WellDynamics, a provider of intelligent completion technology
to the upstream oil industry, where he most recently served as chief
executive officer. Prior to this he led the company.s reliability assurance
and research and development functions before being appointed vice
president of technology, business development and marketing and, in
2007, chief executive officer. Previously, he was employed by Shell UK
Exploration & Production in their advanced completion technology group.
Earlier in his career, he also worked for Wood Group in the UK. Mr.
Mathieson holds a Ph.D in Micro-Mechanical Systems from Heriot-Watt
University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Half of the profit from this event will be awarded to BAFTx, which is
sponsored by our joint participant, BABC, and which provides financial assistance and educational opportunities to academically-gifted students in the United Kingdom and the United States who otherwise might not be able to pursue their education due to financial constraints.
.
Thanks to our Corporate Sponsors:
Boyar & Miller
ConocoPhillips
FosterQuan LLP
Maxwell Drummond
McGrigors
Royal Bank of Scotland
Scottish Development Agency
Turner & Townsend, Inc
Wood Group
Wood Mackenzie
May 16-17 
Houston Highland Games and Celtic Festival will be held at The Houston Farm
Ranch Club, 1 Abercrombie, Houston TX 77084. Activities include piping drumming, highland dance competitions, The
Third Coast Heavy Athletics Championships, Celtic Youth Art competition, shortbread and knobby knees contest. Headline
entertainers are Jiggernaut, Clandestine, Teribus and Ed Miller and Friends. For more information, email Becci Himes
at bhimes@houstonhighlandgames.com and view details on their website at houstonhighlandgames.com.**
June 27
Houston Grampian Association invites you to attend Her Majesty's official Birthday Tea at Masraff's Restaurant
on Post Oak Ln. Her birthday is actually on June 21 but our celebration will be on the 27th. Entertainment will be provided by Alistair Donkin of the Gilbert &Sullivan Society and Alison Greene who stars as Mabel in their July production of Pirates of Penzance.
Masraff's on Post Oak Lane is a casually elegant upscale
restaurant owned and operated by a Houston family of restaurateurs, Tony Masraff and his son Russell. It has become a
local favorite with it's unique Euro/American cuisine and ambiance. It has American cuisine with a touch of Southern
Europe and is Zagat rated. For further information you may contact Rebecca Roberts
at RebeccaRob2006@sbcglobal.net or by telephone at 281-460-3596.
To see photos of last year's event, click HERE.
Please send checks made payable to
Houston Grampian Association or CC details to: Rebecca Roberts 5214 Pinewood Springs Drive Houston Texas 77066 Or call
281 460 3596. Please RSVP by June 20th 2009
August 6 
Student nurses from HBU will leave for a 2-week-long annual exchange visit to Aberdeen. Their visit was postponed from
the originally scheduled May date, due to concerns about the Swine Flu. They will return on August 22.
Sep
Student nurses from Aberdeen arrive for exchange visit to Houston. Date TBD.
Sep 25 or Oct 2
Dinner at HBU honoring student nurses from Houston and Aberdeen with discussion of their experience. A new feature of
this exchange visit is the possible addition of a practicing nurse from Aberdeen to visit us along with the two student nurses.
Date TBD,
Oct Date TBD
HGA Ceilidh to enjoy fellowship, dancing and networking, location TBD. For those who don't know,
a Ceilidh (pronounced "Kay-lay", emphasis on 1st syllable) is many things. It derives from the Gaelic word meaning a
visit and originally meant just that (and still does in Gaelic). It can also mean a house party, a concert or more
usually an evening of informal Scottish traditional dancing to informal music.
November 6 The Houston St. Andrew's Ball 2009, 7.00pm - 1.00am The Junior League of Houston
Ballroom 1811 Briar Oaks Lane. PRIORITY BOOKING FOR HGA MEMBERS. The price (TBD) per person includes a champagne reception, traditional Scottish
3 course dinner, and additional entertainment to be announced later.
November 30 St Andrews Day Quiz at the Black Lab Pub, 4100 Montrose Blvd. - 6.00 pm ‘til ………..
Come and enjoy a fun night and test your Scottish Knowledge! i.e. What are the four ingredients of Atholl Brose? (Not to worry, teams will all
include Scottish experts, so the competition will be fair.) Dinner and drink at your own cost – friendship and fun at no cost.
Please RSVP to RebeccaRoberts2006@gmail.com if you are coming.
** indicates events not sponsored by HGA, but which are of interest to our members.
