Mission Statement
The Wyoming Highlanders Scottish Society exists to stimulate and sustain an interest in Scotland and its heritage, both in Teton County and throughout the State of Wyoming; to provide education regarding its history, music, traditions and culture; to provide and foster social settings that bring together people of Scottish and Celtic heritage; to promote goodwill between its members and general public; and to perform charitable good works as may be reasonable and appropriate.
PO Box 3375, Jackson, WY 83001
An IRS 501 (c)(3) Non-Profit Corporation
Federal EIN # 83-0335637
Chartered May, 2001
Board Members
- Scott Fossel – President
- Shelley Botts – Secretary
- Lowell Reeve – Treasurer
- Bill Best
- Susan Brooks
- Charlie Moyer
Board Members Emeritus
- David Macfarlane
- David Cameron
Early Beginnings
The first annual Jackson Hole Burns Night was held in 1997. It was held at Kip & Lin MacMillan’s house, with eight people in attendance, including Jackson Police Chief David Cameron and his wife Sandy, Major General George Larson, executive director of the Jackson Hole Airport, and his wife Jan. A piper from the National Parks performed.
At dinner that night, David Cameron conceived of the idea of hosting a Jackson Hole Highland Games festival. Unfortunately he died tragically in a home accident before the idea came to fruition.
Jackson Hole Highland Games
In 2001, David Macfarlane became the first official President of the Wyoming Highlanders. He established it as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
It had a flourishing membership and featured events such as Burns Night, St. Andrews Day and Tartan Day activities. David Macfarlane established the first Jackson Hole Highland Games in 2002.
The Games were a success, growing larger each year, with Highland sporting contests, dance competitions, band piping competitions and well known Celtic musical acts performing. These were exciting times for the Wyoming Highlanders but the 2008 economic crisis had a strong impact on the Games’ funding, with various state and regional arts councils eliminating or greatly reducing funds to the Games. At the same time, the core group of volunteers that made the Games happen, had one-by-one been moving away from Jackson. With his own family responsibilities pressing on him and limiting his availability, David decided the 2012 Games would be the last.
GO HERE to see some photographs and videos from these games.
The Dave Cameron Memorial Scholarship
Named in honor of an original founding member of the Wyoming Highlanders, Jackson Police Chief Dave Cameron, the scholarship was first established in 2001 by the Wyoming Highlanders to assist Jackson Hole youth to realize their goal of achieving an education in criminal justice or law enforcement.
The initial purpose was to provide financial aid to one student enrolling in a 4 year accredited institution or the Wyoming Police Academy. At the time, graduating seniors from Jackson Hole High School or Western Wyoming High School were eligible to apply. None of the recipients went on to complete these career paths.
Because of that, our focus has changed a bit and we now seek to award Scholarship money to active Jackson Police Officers or Teton County Sheriff’s Deputies. In 2024 we expanded our donations to include Teton County Search and Rescue. Yearly donations have ranged from $500 – $2,000.
In 2017, Ed Cunningham became the 2nd President of the Wyoming Highlanders joining original board officers David Macfarlane as Past-President, Kip McMillan as Treasurer and Peter Moyer as Secretary. Bill Best, Susan Brooks and Scott Fossel were elected new directors.
The Cunninghams own the historic Culloden House Hotel in Inverness, Scotland. The house and history inspired the author of the Outlander books and Netflix series. Culloden House was the lodging and battlefield headquarters where Bonnie Prince Charlie lived prior to the bloody and fateful Battle of Culloden. It is estimated that there are 20 millions Scots living worldwide as a result of the diaspora arising out of this single battle.
The Wyoming Highlanders adopted the Ammon Scottish Festival – the closest Highland Games to Jackson – providing matching seed money with the City of Ammon. Ammon is located 1.5 hours away, just outside of Idaho Falls. The festival was founded and run by longtime friends of the Wyoming Highlanders, The Teton District Performing Arts.
The Highlanders began making scholarship awards for wounded veterans, sponsoring all the vets enrolled in the Spring 2017 series of the Jackson Hole Therapeutic Riding Association V.E.T. program.
Whisky Tasting Event
For the Christmas season, we brought over Stephen Davies, a Scottish Whisky Ambassador from Scotland. He brought six rare and exclusive whiskies for tasting and presentation, paired with food.
Bagpiping Events
We sponsored, along with the Presbyterian Church and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, bagpiping at Easter Sunrise services at top of the gondola.
We co-sponsored with Off-Square Theatre, bagpiping and Scottish dancing as pre-show entertainment before the production of In Thin Air’s MacBeth.
New Beginnings
In 2024, Scott Fossel became the 3rd Wyoming Highlanders President. The board was expanded to include Charlie Moyer, Shelley Botts and Lowell Reeve as new directors.
Scott arranged for the beautiful Teton Pines Country Club to host its first Burns Night for the Wyoming Highlanders, a successful 2023 event with a sold out crowd of almost 100 people.
The 2024 Burns Night at the Teton Pines Country Club also sold out. The event included a fundraiser to support the Parker Felton is a fierce young Highlander and we banded together to help her along her path to wellness and to help alleviate the family’s financial burden of ongoing medical care. $2,000 was raised for Parker and an additional $500 was raised for Teton County Search and Rescue. See a story on Parker’s journey HERE.
Tartan Day
At the encouragement of the UK Scottish Minister, we joined Scottish groups across America to celebrate National Tartan Day, held annually on April 6th. Our contribution had a Wyoming twist on the traditional parade – a kilt ski parade. Pictured is board member Lowell Reeve.