The 45th annual Tacoma Highland Games will be held Friday and Saturdy at Frontier Park in Graham. A Celtic music concert will accompany two days of Scottish events and demonstrations, including piping, drumming and dance. Exhibits also are on tap. The concert is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Friday. The games themself are slated for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Frontier Park, which also is the home to the Pierce County Fair, is at 217th Street and Meridian (State Route 161). Advance ticket sales and other information is available at tacomagames.org. The Tacoma Highland Games were held for the first time in 1970.-áOrganizers said the games came about as a result of a few individuals getting together and deciding that if Seattle could do it, why not Tacoma? The founders included Dick Roberts, Bill Micenko, Tina Gray, Jack Montgomery and the "grand old manGÇ¥ of the Tacoma-area Scottish community, Johnny Montgomery. Jack Montgomery was the games' first president, Micenko organized the piping competition, and George Mitchum ran the field events. Gray handled the dancing competition, and Johnny Montgomery served as the games' first piping judge. Roberts, a past president of the Tacoma Rifle and Revolver Club, functioned as liaison between the Scottish community and the Black Powder Shooters.-á As the games grew in popularity and the number of competitors increased, the operation of the games was turned over to the Clan Gordon Pipe Band, which in turn managed the games for a few years. In 1975, the games were incorporated as a non-profit organization.-áSome of the early officers and board members were Terry and Margaret Nichelson, Joyce Denton, Paul and Tina Gray, Dianne Patten, Rosemary Wallace and John Brown, Sr. It was during the mid-1970s that the games really came into their own, according to organizers. The first band competition was held, and the individual drumming competition started.-áThe Tacoma Games were the first in the Northwest to have tenor drum competition. Bands that have participated over the years include City of Seattle, Clan Gordon, Clan Stewart, Keith Highlanders, Olympia Highlanders, Seattle Boys, Seattle Pipes, Tacoma Scots and Washington Scottish.-á -á Some of them have since disbanded.
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