| Clan Donald USA sees itself as a family with each member sharing the caring and concern of that relationship. It is regarded as an extension of the clan directly from Scotland. Its chief executive officer is a High Commissioner, not elected by the clansfolk but appointed directly by the High Chief. It was established in 1954 when the late Lord Macdonald appointed the late Reginald MacDonald of Kingsburgh, a direct descendant of the celebrated Flora, its first High Commissioner. Clan Donald has especially grown and flourished since Ellice McDonald, Jr., CBE (Hon.), (Now Honorary High Commissioner) became High Commissioner in 1976. The present High Commissioner – the sixth – John F. McDonald, Jr. of Newton Square, Pa. reported in the Fall issue of CDUSA’s semi-annual magazine “By Sea By Land” that there are now 3,300 memberships in good standing. A membership can be a family or an independent adult so that it is estimated the 3,300 represent well over 5,000 kindred. The High Commissioner also reported that CDUSA is taking advantage of modern technology to compile genealogical records of 450 families who have so far submitted their records. Thus 40,000 names are being matched with the result that many members may discover previously unknown cousins. The titles of books relating to Clan Donald history are also being catalogued by a computer. The Fall issue of the magazine announced three winners of a 1986 raffle. Each receives two round trip tickets to Scotland and $500 for ground travel expenses. The primary reason for the raffle was to build CDUSA’s fund to offset ever-increasing operating expenses. Each of the 12 administrative regions for Clan Donald covering the U.S. (which of course includes Hawaii and Alaska with Commissioners) will have its own library of video tapes which may be played on VCRs through TV sets mainly about the history of our clan. Seven of the US regions of Clan Donald have a town called “Glencoe” where impressive commemorations are held on or near February 13, the date of the 1692 outrage. Ellice McDonald Jr., a Glencoe, will personally lay the wreath – this being CDUSA’s turn to sponsor it – at the 295th anniversary in Scotland’s Glencoe in February. Children of Clan Donald members here will take part in a new essay contest on the subject “What Clan Donald in the 1980s Means to Me”. There will be three age categories under the age of 18. Judges will focus on content. Annual General Meetings bringing together all 12 regions have been held in different parts of this vast country since 1979. The 1986 meeting was in Seattle, Wash, where the honoured guests were Glengarry’s son Patrick, his wife Josephine, and their three daughters. They live in Nanaimo, British Columbia, where Patrick is a manager for Macmillan Bloedel Limited, a woodlands services company. The AGM in 1987 will be held September 17-20 in Dearborn, Mich., with Donald MacDonald Dickinson Thurber, Great Lakes Commissioner Emeritus, as arrangements chairman. Dearborn is near Detroit. One of the special events will be attending a full dress Regimental Dinner in nearby Canada. The clan languished in this country after the 1964 death of Kingsburgh. It was truly the late Donald J. Madonald of Castleton who is largely credited with helping to sustain interest here by his tireless correspondence and inspiration. It regained a semblance of life with the Donald J. motivated visit to the US in the summer of 1971 of Lord Macdonald seeking financial support for the struggling Clan Donald Lands Trust. An early commissioner in the rebirth – (for Maryland and Delaware) – was Ellice McDonald, Jr. It was in 1976 when he became High Commissioner that the clan here entered a Golden Age which continues. His dedication to Clan Donald – and that of his wife Rosa, a Wemyss – extended vigorously to Scotland and the building of the Clan Donald Lands Trust on Skye’s Sleat Peninsula. Their benefactions include many other causes in Scotland for all of which he was recognised by Queen Elizabeth in December 1985 with the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. |