Michigan Tartan Day Stone Finds Permanent Location
When the Scottish American Society of Michigan was presented the official Michigan Tartan Day Stone earlier this summer, the Detroit-based organization had to find a permanent location for it.
Why not Alma College?
“To us, the most logical place is Alma, known as Scotland USA,” says Society Executive Director Franklin Dohanyos. “We have come to love Alma and Alma College. We attend the Highland Festival every year, and the society donates $500 annually to help send a student to a summer fine arts camp.”
From left: Franklin Dohanyos, Jean Dohanyos and Jeff Abernathy, with the Michigan Tartan Day Stone.
Dohanyos and his wife, Jean, who serves as the society’s membership director, presented the Michigan Tartan Day Stone to Alma College during the college’s annual Traditions Dinner Aug. 30 in the Hogan Center.
Alma College will display the stone permanently at a prominent location, says President Jeff Abernathy.
“We are greatly honored to accept the Michigan Tartan Day Stone for permanent display," says Abernathy. "Since early in our 126-year history, we have fostered the Scottish arts with piping, highland dancing and our own registered tartan. We are delighted to be known as the Scots and are honored that the Scottish American Society of Michigan has chosen our campus to display the Michigan Tartan Day Stone."
The stone features Pictish carvings of Michigan symbols.
Frank Maurer, a California stone carver, is creating official Tartan Day stones for every state in the union. He donated the Michigan stone to the Michigan society in July.
The Michigan sandstone weighs about 50 pounds and is approximately two feet by 18 inches by five inches. It has Michigan symbols carved into it, such as the white pine, trout, robin and Petoskey stone. The carvings are done in the Pictish style used by the early Celtic people who lived in ancient Scotland.
The mission of the Scottish American Society of Michigan is to preserve and further Scottish heritage throughout Michigan and beyond.
-mjs-
Posted: Tue, August 28th, 2012 at 10:49AM
