Great Scot, Les has cause to be proud
THERE are many traditions that make Les Nicholson proud of his Scottish heritage including the bagpipes, the ceremonies “and the single malts”.
The Townsville man has just been appointed president of the Australian arm of Clan MacNicol at the world gathering of the clan in Scotland.
With members in Scotland, England, North America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, the clan provides scholarships for the promotion of Scottish culture and heritage, which the Townsville Scottish Community Inc also does so well.
Mr Nicholson helps organise the annual Tartan Day, which last year attracted 12,000 people to the Flinders St celebration.
“In the 2016 census there were 23,000 people in Townsville who claimed some sort of Scottish heritage,” he said. “So we always have a very good turnout at Tartan Day.”
Les and his wife Marie Gibson both have Scottish ancestry, with Marie holding the title of Queensland and Oceania Regent of Clan Buchanan.
“I’m fiercely proudly Australian but everyone should know what their heritage is … and I’m happy mine is Scottish,” Mr Nicholson said.
“We had five weeks in Scotland this time, which was the second time Marie and I had visited. The first time was in 2009 for the world gathering where 47,000 people went to Edinburgh so that was something special.”
Mr Nicholson’s presidential run is a three- year appointment where he’ll be expected to attend Scottish events all over the country.
“Every April there’s a big event in Glen Innes so we’ll be going down for that, as well as various gatherings and events within the clan,” he said.
The next event of the Townsville Scottish Com- munity is the Saint Andrews Dinner at Townsville RSL on Saturday, November 24, hosted by the RSL Memorial Pipes and Drums. Tickets are $ 50 from townsvilletick-ets.com.au