One couple happy to be known as each other’s ball and chain
The sun was shining and the air was rich with the smell of Scottish pies as a sea of plaid kilts filled the N.L.A.S. Fairgrounds in Almonte for the 32nd annual North Lanark Highland Games on Saturday.
The day featured massed bands of bagpipers and drummers, dance and instrument competitions, and, of course, the heavy events, such as the lead-ball weight throw and the caber toss.
Amid it all, the event also featured its own homegrown love story.
Some people refer to their spouse as their “ball and chain.” But for Neil and Heidi Lowry, the label has no negative connotation.
In 2005, Heidi was living in Muskoka and was a Canadian national team beach volleyball player whose career had recently been cut short by a knee injury. It was a friend who then encouraged her — nay, dared her — to try out the Highland heavy events.
“I was like, ‘Do you even know me? I’m not going to wear a skirt,’ ” she recalled. “(But) I thought, I have to find a sport where I don’t have to run and I don’t have to jump.”
But Heidi quickly excelled at the sport and started competing across the province. It was at an event in Georgetown that year that she met Neil, who was already deep into Scottish athletics. (He’s been helping to organize the North Lanark games for more than 15 years.)
The couple dated long-distance for a while before Heidi moved to Almonte, despite Neil’s offer to move for her. A week later, the two were engaged.
That happened during the closing ceremonies of the 2006 edition of the North Lanark Highland Games, in front of a crowd of about 6,000 people. Nine years later, the happy parents of three were at the helm — and on the field — Saturday for one of the area’s beloved summer events.
The couple also competes in about 10 Highland games across Ontario and Quebec every summer.
Heidi said Almonte and the larger Mississippi Mills area has a rich community of people with Scottish and Irish roots, but added that many of those who attend the event don’t necessarily share that heritage. “Scot or not, that’s what we say.” And Scot or not, the pair has to give thanks to the Scottish Highlands — and, in an unlikely case, a career-ending injury — for bringing them together.
“Luckily I blew out my knee,” Heidi said. “That’s what I say about him.”