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| Dan Gashaw on Scottish ancestry, the Black Watch and being part of the Games. | ||||||||
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| Dan Gashaw won the Super-A Division of the 12th Annual Highland Games in Springfield, Illinois, receiving a Scottish claymore sword as an award. Gashaw placed first in his division in open stone, heavy weight for distance, light weight for distance and weight over bar. May 20, 2006 Photography credits: Joshua Heston |
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| [I do have] Scottish heritage. I didn't find out until I started doing these games. I knew I was part German, part French. But I didn't find out until I started doing these Games that my mom's side of the family has Scottish ancestors. A lot of guys wear their family tartans as their kilts. So I'm still looking for mine. And right now, I just wear the Black Watch — just for the history of it. The Black Watch (back in the Scottish army) was the equivalent of the Green Berets now. They were the mean guys. The South used them in the [American] Civil War a little bit. The South hired them from Scotland and they came over and were in a couple of the battles. And if you don't have any Scottish ancestry or Irish ancestry, just find a kilt you like and it's still fun. You can pretend to be Scottish around here for some time. And that's fine with us. We don't discriminate and say, "This is only for folks with Scottish or Irish heritage." You just have to enjoy it and have fun. And that's probably the best part of about the games. There's just a great camaraderie here.We'll help each other out. You know, if you need to borrow some tape or tacky or some chalk, or if you don't have a sheaf fork, everyone's willing to help out and let you borrow something. I got started last year, actually. Last March, a friend of mine talked me into giving it a try. I'd always been interested. I was a track and field athlete in high school and one year in college. And he's like, "You gotta give this a try." And I'm like, "You know, why not? It seems fun." I came out and entered the novice class which is the guys who have never thrown a weight before. And I won the whole thing pretty convincingly. And just had a good time. Everyone was willing to help out and have a good time. And it just progressed from there. I'm on my second year. I was invited to the North-South Challenge earlier this year, which is a big honor — especially for someone who's only been throwing a year. It's not like when I played football. I did that for the competition. It was "Go out there and beat the guy across from you and you hate them" and I come out here for fun. I just happen to be fairly decent at it — I shouldn't say good. I'm not good. I'm just decent at it. I like having fun, you know. These guys are all about having fun. And that's the best part about it, you know? It's relaxing. It's fun. [My favorite event is] The stones. And that's because I'm an old shot-putter. There has been only one event, one meet, I went to that I didn't place first in the open stone. On Braemar [pronounced Bray-mar], my lowest place is second. So stones are my best event. But all of them are just real fun to do. And you don't have to be good to do this. That's what I really like about it. My least favorite event is the caber. That's one that's not all about strength; it's all about your technique. And the balance. And it's an event I'm still learning at. It's a rough event. It's all about balance and speed — and you know? Balancing that log is pretty tough. May 23, 2006 |
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