Organizers were thrilled that Cowichan Lake folks flocked to the Youbou Community Hall Saturday night for the first ever Robbie Burns Night.
They’d been a bit hard-pressed trying to get everything ready: Kim Ring said they’d scoured all of Vancouver Island trying to find a piper who wasn’t already booked for an event elsewhere and came up empty.
Cassy Emmerson, the fearless cook, took on the role of Poosie Nancy and carried in the haggis herself. Mike Bishop gave the Address to the Haggis and the Selkirk Grace.
There was plenty of food, including roast beef, but the enthusiastic crowd of 70 diners still managed to taste their way through nearly three big haggises: proof that cooking up goodness-knows-what with oatmeal in a cow’s stomach can still be delicious.
Later, Lesley Joy talked about The Immortal Memory: the legacy of poet Robbie Burns and then read his famous poem, ‘To a Mouse’. She was followed by some Highland dancing by members of the Shelley Cassidy School of Dance, who are heading to Las Vegas this year for an international competition.
Finally, the Tom Morrissey Band took the stage to conclude the evening with some foot-stomping dance music, leaving everyone asking, how soon can we get tickets for next year?