Bonny Knees Contest

[A Hay]

I was visiting in the USA the last two weeks and had the opportunity to attend the Ft. Wayne, IN, Highland Games on June 13th.

Here are some pics. Although it was not a large gathering, folks had a good time.
Here is a picture of the main avenue. There were about 10 vendors and about the same number of clan tents.


There were at least 3 bands present, most prominent were the Ft. Wayne Police Pipes and Drums. Didn't really see who the other two were.


Representative of Clan Lamont. I talked to him for some time. He has a friend who is a member of X Marks the Scot, (Lucky, I believe was the name of the member).


This sculpture of "Nessie" was outside the VIP Tent.


There were two bands that played in the entertainment tent. This one was called Rising Gael. They were OK, but no kilts among them.


Whilst I was sitting in the entertainment tent, they announced the Haggis Toss for the Ladies and the Bonny Knees contest for the gentlemen.

The haggis was a sand filled leather bag of 3.5 pounds that the ladies rolled underhand along the ground for best distance. One of the contestants was a participant in the Athletics contest and rolled it about 60 feet, far outdistancing the other contestants. The winner of this contest was the judge for the Bonny Knees contest that followed. One of the young ladies organizing the contest passed through the crowd and invited gentlemen to participate. On a whim I signed up.

The winner of the Haggis Toss was seated on a chair, blindfolded, and we men marched up one by one and either lifted our kilts or shorts or pantlegs and the lady proceeded to feel our knees. She was a 5 time winner of the Haggis Toss and I assumed had some criteria in mind.



Of the 30 or so men participating, I was one of the 6 selected for round two.
To my great surprise, I was the winner!
Not bad for a 63 year old! (I have to say that the Men's Athletics were still going on, so none of the big guys participated in this contest)


My prize was a bottle of Tellemore Dew Irish Whiskey. The lady in the red and black dress to the right of the previous picture said she asked a sponsor for a bottle of single malt whisky, but instead was given the Irish whiskey!
Unfortunately, I did not want to try to bring it back with me to Europe, so it was left in the States as a gift.

My wife was not with me that day, but we had a good laugh about it.
Maybe I should go on the contest circuit?

Regards,
Tom

[SFCRick]

Great photos, glad you had a good time

[Highlander31]

Nice photos. Congratulations on your win.

[Tartan Shortbread Jock]

Hello Tom, glad to meet you.
Liked your pictures of FT Wayne Highland games.
It looks like a good laugh but you should have brought
back the bottle.
Kind wishes.

[Chas]

Great pics and what a fantastic claim to fame - Award Winning Knees. Time to go professional?

Regards

Chas

[KFCarter]

Thanks for the great pictures and congratulations on the contest win!

This could be a trend; maybe a new TV show: "America's Got Knees"

If that happens, you'd have a leg up on the competition... (sorry... that even made me groan)

[McClef]

Always fun to have a good knees up!

[JolyStNicholas]

Thank you for sharing your outing with us. And congratulations are in order.
Took 63 years to get those grand knees! hehehehehe!

[RamsayClanCommish]

Congrats!

And I see Clan Ramsay was at the event as well!

[Mael Coluim]

Well done, Tom! Great pix and commentary.