Central Valley Highland Games & Festival, Kevin Lesko, 10/19/19

Dear Fred and Kamrin

I thought you’d appreciate a report from the Turlock Games, Red Thistle’s 500th performance. There were some challenges: The music system was left in an odd state, so music for the first set was quieter than we’d like. This was fixed for the afternoon set. Thanks to Michael R. For handling the music. Three cheers for Red Thistle Music for giving us such great tunes to wow the audience with and dance to. Denise figured it out issue with the sound system.    Hip hip hurrah for Denise. The state of the flooring was another challenge. There were a couple of trips and caught toes in the uneven seams. But the dancers handled this with grace. It was better than Ardenwood but not much. The audience was small in number but very attentive. And friendly. I think we have a new highland dancer prospect!  A middle school aged girl was copying everything. Deborah and I both spoke with her. She lives in Stockton unfortunately. The other dance groups stayed, watched our sets, and remarked how well we performed. There were many complimentary comments for the officials  and audience. The Games organizers were particularly pleased with our performances and told us do. I think it is not an exaggeration to state that Red Thistles was the most polished performing group at the Games. I was able to watch the country dancing. There was some excellent covering and phrasing. The slipping down and setting was very well covered and pleasing to watch. When not tripping on the floor the eyes were up and people smiled well. Kathleen was engaging and friendly as our announcer. Special thanks to Kathleen. The audience participation was good with two sets of dancers for both shows. The banners were up and nicely announced us. Thank you to Julee for hauling them and more supplies. So all in all I believe you can be proud of Red Thistle today. Our 500th show!!! Pictures to follow

Cheers Kevin