Kilted edge
Highland Games lure more than 10,000 spectators and participants

By Brad Nolan
Scottish Heptathlon Clachneart (stone put) The predecessor to the modern shot put, the stone put utilizes smooth river stones weighing 16 pounds. Weight throw for distance (28 pounds) A 28-pound weight, attached to a ring and chain, is thrown three times the longest toss counts. Weight throw for distance (56 pounds) Same as above, only with a 56-pound weight. Hammer throw The Scottish hammer derives from the village blacksmith's hammer. The metal ball weighs 16 to 22 pounds and is attached to a wooden handle. The competitor is not allowed to move his feet while throwing. Caber toss This signature Highland event may have begun as a military exercise. There is no exact size standard for the tapered pine trunks, but they are generally 16 to 20 feet long and weigh up to 120 pounds. The object is to lift, then toss the caber end over end so that it lands in the 12 o'clock position. Sheaf toss A pitchfork is used to toss the bag of hay over a cross bar, which is raised six inches at a time. The winning toss is the highest one over the bar without knocking it down. Weight toss for height The 56-pound weight is swung between the knees and tossed over the bar using only one hand.
STAFF WRITER
Were you hungering for a plate of haggis and thirsting for a snifter of scotch? Were you tired of wimpy American football, and more partial to the padless physicality of rugby? Or were you just looking for something different, something you had never seen before? If so, then chances are you were one of the more than 10,000 people at the 15th annual Highland Games at the Oak Brook Polo Grounds on Saturday.
Spectators and participants from across the Midwest attended the popular festival hosted by the Illinois St. Andrew Society, established in 1845 by Chicago's Scottish immigrant population. The Highland Games is a daylong immersion in Scottish heritage and culture the attractions numerous in number and variety.
Food selections catered to a range of tastes. Fearless epicures indulged in such Scottish staples as meat pie and haggis, a sheep intestine stuffed with oats, onion and sheep heart or liver. For the less adventurous, there was more pedestrian fare such as fish and chips and hamburgers.
If Scottish kilts are your thing, they could be purchased along with a variety of other traditional clothing, jewelry and antiques. And though the endless items for sale, edible or not, were popular among the attendants, most came for the athletic events and cultural exhibitions.
Julianna Greer, the society's director of special events, credits the 500 percent growth in the attendance since the event began to a burgeoning interest in Scottish sports, history and culture.
"That's part of the attraction," she said. "For many, they get to see things they don't see in most places."
Exhibitions and entertainment included Scottish and Gaelic music and dance competitions, falconry and shepherding, a scotch-tasting seminar and many others. Still, without question, the event's biggest lure was the Scottish Heptathlon.
Comprised of seven events the stone put, 28-pound weight throw for distance,56-pound weight throw for distance, hammer throw, caber toss, sheaf toss and weight toss for height the heptathlon is more than 800 years old and is one of the oldest surviving organized athletic competitions. There are more than 300 such amateur games in America each year.
The games' signature event, the caber toss, captured the crowd's unbridled attention. Hefty competitors adorned in tartan kilts hoisted 20-foot, 120-pound tapered tree trunks end over end, intending to land them in the 12 o'clock position. It was an endeavour which, depending on the result, drew boisterous cheers or sympathetic groans.
For many in the crowd, it was their first exposure to the unique activity. For others, it was a refreshing reminder of their homeland and heritage.
Ron Osborne, a 56-year-old native of England, has lived in Chicago for three decades. Still, each year he attends the Highland Games for the many reminders of home.
"You get to see things like the caber toss," he said. "These are the things I saw with regularity in England that I don't get to see here except at the Highland Games."
Sean Betz of Omaha, Neb., won the overall competition, finishing first in the stone put and both weight throw for distance events.
In addition to the heptathlon, there was a rugby sevens tournament with men's clubs and college teams. For the younger players, it represented an invaluable opportunity to compete against experienced players and topnotch teams like the Chicago Lyons.
"The competition here is pretty tough," University of Illinois-Chicago player and Aurora native Mark Masen said. "The men's teams are bigger and play at a higher level."
Although the number of rugby spectators dwarfed in comparison to that of the heptathlon, the games did draw their fair share of curious newcomers, as well as the players' family and friends.
John Barbeau of Glen Ellyn, a former U.S. National Team player, works for American Rugby Outfitters. The Elk Grove company is the nation's largest supplier of rugby clothing and gear and had a booth at this year's Highland Games. Barbeau explained rugby only began to catch on in America 15 or 20 years ago. The first converts, many now in their fifties, are now fathers to the newest generation of high school and college players.
"The fathers coached their kids," he said. "And because of that there are now more high school and college teams. Injuries are less frequent than they are in football and nobody is turned away."
Following the heptathlon and rugby tournament, the festivities stretched into the evening with an awards ceremony and closed with a performance by the Celtic rock band Haggis.
The Highland Games had come full circle revisiting haggis with only the best possible consequences.
Contact Brad Nolan at (630) 416-5286 or bnolan@scn1.com.

Carrying the weight
Naperville resident enjoys eighth year running Highland Games

By Brad Nolan

STAFF WRITER
In 1988, Kevin Neis had never seen, let alone participated in, any of the seven events that make up the Scottish heptathlon. That didn't seem to matter. With the field at that year's Highland Games depleted, Neis was recruited on the spot to compete. He went on to win.
"There were some top amateurs and pros there," he said. "So I watched them and tried to copy their technique. But I probably won because of the luck of the Neis."
Luck or no luck, Neis clearly had an innate ability and affinity for the Scottish heptathlon and competed regionally and at the Highland Games for the next six years. Though he failed to win again, Neis never finished out of the top four and for a time held the Illinois record in the hammer throw.
Neis, now 34, retired from competition in 1994 when he took over as the Highland Games athletic chairman. His job was to organize and run the competition and he did so with a determined passion.
"I tried to turn it into the best games in the Midwest," he said. "And we are, in my feeling, now the best."
Last Saturday in Oak Brook, Neis ran his athletic competition at the Highland Games. And once again, the heptathlon was without question the main attraction.
"It's a change of pace for many spectators," Neis said. "And the history is certainly another lure."
The Scottish heptathlon is at least 800 years old and remains one of the oldest and active organized athletic competitions in the world. It was this element of living history that fueled Neis' passion. His maternal aunt Ruth Fern, a Scottish history professor in New Jersey, traced his family's heritage to pre-Renaissance Scotland and helped him investigate the origins and traditions of the games.
"Once I found out about the history," he said. "I really got into it."
Others were interested, too, including movie star Mel Gibson, who following the success of his Academy Award-winning epic "Braveheart" asked Neis to show him the different aspects of the games. The two met in Chicago's Grant Park in 1995 and, not surprisingly, attracted numerous spectators and television cameras.
Though Neis works full time for the world's largest commercial printer, Quebecor, he has no plans to abandon his lead role in improving and expanding the Highland Games in suburban Chicago something the organizers of the annual event are happy to hear.
"Kevin is not only a consummate athlete," said Juliana Greer, director of special events for the Illinois St. Andrew Society. "But he's also an enthusiast. He knows the people, the history and is committed to the highest standards and safety. He wants people to enjoy the competition. I don't know what we'd do without him."
Contact Brad Nolan at (630) 416-5286 or bnolan@scn1.com
06/20/01

(Photos and text are borrowed from the Naperville Sun and are not intended for any use other than historical documentation.)