Scots’ Charitable Society member, Tom Childs, has been providing some musical relief to lift spirits in his community.
Every night Tom plays his bagpipes across the Androscoggin River pedestrian bridge. Thank you, Tom!
Member Spotlight
Member Spotlight: The Patnod Twins
Gregory and Alex Patnod or collectively “The Patnod Twins” are two of the youngest members of the Scots’ Charitable Society. They became involved in 2015 through their Grandfather Ken MacDonald, who has a proud Scottish heritage, tracing his ancestors back to 17th century Scotland. From a young age Greg and Alex participated in cultural events. They were extremely grateful when they earned scholarships from the Society while pursuing their undergraduate business degrees and felt a strong desire to be more involved.
The Patnod Twins help lead new initiatives for the Society to aid its adaptation in a fast-changing world. They enjoy attending the quarterly business meetings and connecting with the leaders of the Organization with whom they grown close with. Over the last several years, they have provided hands-on volunteering for various SCS events including: the annual Kirkin’ O’ the Tartan, St. Andrew’s Gala and have spoken to undergraduates and their families at several scholarship ceremonies as they are strong advocates for engaging their generation to get involved with the Society and carry on its legacy.
On a personal level, the Twins spend much of their free time being active: hiking, skiing, traveling and boating on the Atlantic (depending on the season!). They also cherish spending time with their family and close friends.
2019 Summer Intern
This year, 2019, Scots’ Charitable Society took on their first summer intern, Olivia Conroy-Smith, to work full-time over an eight-week period. Olivia is originally from the outskirts of London with family in both Scotland and Ireland however, for the last four years Olivia has lived in Edinburgh, Scotland whilst studying Geography and Social and Economic History at the University of Edinburgh. She is currently 21 years of age and will be going into her fourth and final year of university in September, 2019. This summer she is a Saltire Scholar Intern, which is a Scottish program run by Entrepreneurial Scotland. Below Olivia shares her experience with being SCS’ Summer Intern:
“Hello! I’m Olivia Conroy-Smith, but most people know me as Liv, and I am writing this blog whilst I bask in the sun alongside the Charles River in Boston. I have just finished my fourth week as a working Massachusettsan and rewarded myself with a relax by the esplanade as I walk home from work. If you told me six months ago that I would be living and working in the East Coast of America for two months over the summer I would have laughed it off whilst dreaming of the possibility …. Alas, here I am in the heart of Boston, on the East Coast of America, lucky enough to be one of the fortunate Saltire Scholars of 2019.
Entrepreneurial Scotland is a Scottish program which combines a group of young talent with worldwide opportunities with the hope of inspiring and developing the next generation of working Scots to create the most entrepreneurial society in the world. After a lengthy application and interview process I was very lucky to be offered a summer placement with Scots’ Charitable Society. I arrived here in late June and will be leaving in the middle of August so a relatively short but very sweet trip in Boston.
My role this summer is to help expand the organisation’s economic revenues, design fundraising programs as well as further develop the online platforms of the charity. Within my first few weeks I learnt more about the Society and their work, attended the annual Scholarship Award Evening, guest-spoke at their quarterly board meeting as well met with different team members to consolidate ideas about the future of the charity – I think its fair to say it has been a very busy and exciting few weeks!
I am currently focusing on widening the Society’s outreach to people in the Greater Boston area with a hope of continuing and building upon the work that SCS do. It is my hope that SCS can become even more engaging and interactive with the Scottish-American community via more events, greater online presence and expansive collaborations. This past weekend I attended the Glasgow Land Highland Games in Northampton where I focused on getting to know other societies and clans that SCS may become connected to within the future.
I feel privileged to be contributing to the longest-standing charitable organisation in the Western Hemisphere and to make things even more exciting I am the first woman to work for Scots’ Charitable Society too – I feel like I am making history by being here and that is all thanks to SCS! My hope is that I can make a significant impact on the society whilst in Boston as well as learning from the wonderfully intelligent people around me.
From day 1 I have felt truly grateful and unbelievably excited for this opportunity and the experience has already surpassed all my expectations for the summer- I can only imagine what the next few weeks will have in store!
I will make sure to keep you all updated but for now it is see you later!
Thanks for reading,
Olivia”
Member Spotlight: Our Three New Members
On Thursday, June 27th 2019 the Scots’ Charitable Society welcomed three new members; Kirk Brunson, Karen Mahoney and Peggy Wynne. Below we have blog passages from Kirk and Karen explaining what SCS means to them.
Kirk Brunson:
Scottish arts and heritage is a longstanding aspect of my family. From a young age I visited my grandfather, William Buchanan, and listened to bagpipe music with him. Shortly thereafter I began bagpipe lessons and since have taught and performed throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland and Scotland. Celtic music has been a focus of mine for a number of years, and I look forward to contributing to the Society’s purpose of advancing Scottish and Celtic heritage.
Karen Mahoney:
Why did I seek to join SCS?
In May of 1993, I said goodbye to the town of my birth, Kearny, NJ, and it’s three fish n’ chip shops, two Scottish butchers, two pipe bands, my Scottish Highland Dancing teacher of 19 years, and my employer at The Piper’s Cove and I moved to Boston. I knew my new city would enrich me in many ways, and it certainly has, but as I had intended, I started teaching Scottish Highland dance out of my Roslindale, MA apartment soon after settling here. I didn’t know then, that what I was doing was creating my own cultural outlet. Before long, I had students competing at Games and Festivals near and far. Over the past 25+ years of teaching dance, I’ve met so many people who have influenced and shaped me, including our current SCS President, Alan McCall and SCS member, Dennis Napier. When a fellow dancer asked me recently “why did you join SCS”, it was an easy answer: I’m a do-er and a giver, as are both of these wonderful men. I am not a passive participant in anything I do, and the idea of simply donating monetarily to the good works and mission of the SCS did not appeal to me. I had to do something, and actively participate. So, here I am, giving and doing, and living up to my high school honor of “Most Helpful”.
Scots' Charitable Society 