Editor,

I am honored and excited to be invited again to emcee this year’s Whidbey Island Highland Games.

Last year was stunning for many out-of-towners who visited Whidbey for the first time.

All of us — visitors, vendors and participants alike, felt something really special there.

Was it the camaraderie you afforded us? Was it the place you hold these games, that cool Greenbank Farm and Winery? Was it the massed pipe bands that brought so many chills and so much pride? Was it the island itself that awakened memories deep in our cells of Celtic cairns, moors, speys, and glens?

The Whidbey Island Highland Games gave many of us the excuse to tour more of the area, which had to have brought economic benefits. Gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and motels had to have registered an uptick. That is what these games do. They give people a morale boost, they add to the prosperity of the area, they get the host area onto the traveler’s map, and they serve as one of those events or programs that bonds a community in a common endeavor to “show your wares.”

MAC ALEXANDER MCDONALD

Seattle