--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jim Waters, jwaters@bgdailynews.com -- 270-783-3269
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GLASGOW — It was obvious from Thursday’s kickoff luncheon that the first post-Sept. 11 Highland Games will have a patriotic flare.

“The Scottish-American community is very patriotic,” said games Chief George Gordon MacMillan in his thick accent. “That terrorist attack was not just an attack against America really, it was an assault on the whole civilized world. There were over 80 countries who lost people that day. Very few places in the world were untouched. We had a girl from our village who was in the next-door building of the World Trade Center towers.”

Susan Marshall, who lives a mile from Ground Zero in New York, debuted “United We Stand,” one of the songs from “Remember,” her latest compact disc. The song, sung by Marshall with the American, Canadian and Scottish flags as a backdrop in the Barren River State Park lodge, brought the luncheon crowd to its feet. Those attending were the first to get the chance to purchase the CD, all of the proceeds of which are going to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I just commend Sandy and Susan for writing that song,” said Bob Harrison, president of the games. “That is just a fantastic song.”

Harrison, who was dressed in full Scottish garb complete with jacket, tie and kilt, said he was not surprised at the outpouring of patriotism as part of this year’s games.

“Many of the people who started the games were veterans who, along with their wives, have remained a very interested group from the beginning,” he said.

In fact, if it hadn’t been for the interest of Harrison and others like Glasgow Mayor Charles Honeycutt, who’s retiring at the end of the year after 16 years in office. This year’s games are being dedicated to Honeycutt, who himself saw action with the U.S. Army in the Pacific during World War II.

Marshall, who is recognized as the top female Celt singer in North America, will be performing songs from the album throughout the weekend, including at the Celtic Fest on the Square today and at the “Ceilidh” – or concert – tonight under the big tent at the park.

Highland Games attract best shows, food and athletes

From the Bowling Green KY Daily News
June 1, 2002

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

George MacMillan may be a chief of a large Scottish clan whose descendants include some of the great Scots of the past. But he is also a man who obviously enjoys having fun.

Along with the tradition of Glasgow’s Highland Games, attendees should arrive with an expectation that it’s going to be a good time.

To illustrate, MacMillan points to a fun-filled rivalry between Edinburgh and Glasgow … the other one – the one in Scotland. In this thick accent, he says the people of Edinburgh “always thought they were smart, but the ones in Glasgow always had much fun.”

MacMillan, with his mix of English-type humor and seriousness, portrays the true spirit of the Highland Games.

With the best entertainment – including some of the best Celtic bands and athletes – and some of the best barbecue – those who live in southcentral Kentucky should not miss a moment of the 17th annual games. After all, where else can you see a 125-pound Gillenwater stone throw, eat bridies and research your family history, all at the same place?

Bob Harrison, president of the games, and Glasgow Mayor Charles Honeycutt deserve special mention.

In the early days of the games, Harrison worked tirelessly, even making contacts he had made from a musical career during his college days to try and attract the best entertainment. His efforts have made the games not only a favorite of fans but of performers, as well. Many of the annual performers, like Susan Marshall, “Queen of Celtic Pop,” and her husband Sandy, an award-winning songwriter, say that the Glasgow event is the one they make sure not to miss each year.

Despite having a busy law practice, Bob has always made promoting the games a priority – taking time for interviews and filling in those new to the area who may not understand what it’s all about.

While last year’s occasion was especially significant because the site was chosen to host the International Games in conjunction with the regularly scheduled Highland events, this year’s gathering may be the most moving. There may be no people who love this country like those of Scottish descent, many of whose ancestors were forced off their homeland by a snobbish aristocracy. There were many who found a home in America and have never forgotten. Their outpouring of support for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may be unequaled. The Marshalls, though they made large personal donations to victims, did not feel like it was enough. So they crisscrossed the country to create a new project and donate the proceeds to three different 9/11 charities.

They match the spirit of Harrison’s welcome for this year’s games.

“The Celtic values of honor, family, loyalty, freedom and duty under God, brought to this area, have withstood the changes of time,” he said. “It is with these values that we face the world since Sept. 11 and it is with these values that we will prevail with our British, Canadian and other allies against terrorism.”

‘Remember’ memorializes Sept. 11 victims

From the Bowling Green KY Daily News
May 30, 2002

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Alyssa Harvey, aharvey@bgdailynews.com -- 270-783-3257
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It all started with a smile at a time when it was difficult for Americans to believe that anyone would ever be happy again.
Shortly after Sept. 11, New York couple Alexander “Sandy” and Susan Palmer Marshall each noticed a particular poster among many on a lamppost near their home, which is a little over a mile from Ground Zero.

The poster featured a picture of a smiling, blonde-haired, green-eyed young woman, wearing a bridal veil. Her name was Kristy Anne Ryan, an employee of Sandler O’Neil and Partners on the 104th floor of the second tower of the World Trade Center, and she was one of thousands missing after the terrorist attacks.

She had been a bride for just 94 days.

“It grabbed us both by the heart,” Sandy said.

Susan agreed.

“Hers was a whole new life of beginnings,” she said.

It was the catalyst that sparked an idea in Sandy, an Emmy Award-winning writer, and Susan, a former New Christy Minstrel who is billed as the “Queen of Celtic Pop,” to record “Remember,” the husband-wife team’s fifth collaboration.

The Marshalls will donate all the profits from the album, which is being released today and will be sold this weekend during the Glasgow Highland Games at Barren River State Resort Park, to Sept. 11-related charities. Susan will sing some of the songs, many of which the Marshalls wrote, during the games.

“We were very impacted by (the attacks). We breathed the smoke and it stung our eyes. But the terrorists didn’t just attack America; they attacked civilization. People from 83 countries were killed. We lost five friends that we know about,” Sandy said. “We didn’t want to be perceived as ghouls making money off someone else’s pain, so we agreed to give 100 percent to charities.”

The fact that the album is being released today is significant, Sandy said.

“They announced last week that (today) is the end of the recovery effort at the World Trade Center,” he said. “We hope in some small way this album will help people. It has been a moving experience for us.”

The first song the Marshalls wrote was “Kristy Anne,” for the bride who died in the attacks. He and Susan made it their mission to find out everything they could about her.

They visited Internet sites dedicated to information about victims of the attacks. They found that Kristy Anne had co-founded a charity called Secret Smiles when she was 28 years old. The organization would do anonymous good deeds for families in need.

“What a remarkable young woman! We thought we had to do something to further (victims’) existence on the planet,” Sandy said. “Everybody should go to those sites and pick somebody. It will enrich their lives and it will defeat the dirtbags who perpetrated this horrible thing on America. They cheated us out of a chance to get to know these people.”

Susan agreed.

“It left you wishing you could have known this person,” she said.

While looking at a list of victims, the were drawn to another name: Capt. Patrick “Paddy” Brown of Ladder Company No. 3 in Greenwich Village, just south of the Marshalls’ home. He was one of 11 firefighters from that company to lose his live fighting the blaze at the World Trade Center.

“His name is similar to my friend’s – Hugh Patrick ‘Rusty’ Brown. Paddy was apparently legendary in the fire department,” Sandy said. “He and Paddy Brown had a lot in common. Both Paddy and Rusty had served our nation with honor in Vietnam.”

For firemen all over the world, the Marshalls wrote “The Ballad of Paddy Brown.”

Sandy’s friend Rusty sang backup for Susan.

“Firemen are special people,” Sandy said. “They are rushing into a building when other people are rushing out.”

“Remember” was recorded in New York and Los Angeles with the help of several musicians who are billed as “Friends” on the album, including John McEuen, a five-time Grammy nominee and former leader of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; Jon Gordon, former musical director and lead guitarist for Madonna and Suzanne Vega; Fiddlin’ Phil Salazar of the String Wizards; Whistling Gypsy Bob Pegritz; members of the New York Chamber Symphony; and a 60-voice children’s choir from Lancaster, Calif.

“They all donated their time,” Susan said. “Nobody took a penny.”

Artists freely contributing to the cause was just one of the little acts of kindness the Marshalls experienced as they put together “Remember.” Sandy recalls an incident with tin whistler Bob Pegritz, who needed a whistle that played in the key of B, a rare find, for the song “Kristy Anne.”

“Bob contacted a friend of his in Germany who makes whistles and told him about the project,” he said. “His friend couldn’t sleep that night, so he got up and made Bob a ‘B’ whistle and sent it in the morning post. He wouldn’t take a penny for it.”

Perhaps the song from “Remember” that best defines how the Marshalls feel since the attacks is “United We Stand.”

“It’s our response to the twisted zealots that thought they could have their way with America and twist us apart,” he said. “They just united us.”

“Remember” costs $15 and is also available online at http://www.cdbaby.com or http://www. susanpalmermarshall.com.

© 2002 Clans on the Half Shell Music
365 W. 19th Street, #1F, New York, NY 10011
(212) 675-5677  
SPM@susanpalmermarshall.com