Robert Burns Supper

On Friday, January 25 at 6:30pm, the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center will host a Burns Supper fundraiser for the Folk in Schools Initiative.  The event will be held in the Great Lakes Rooms in the University Center, and will be $45 per ticket and reservations are necessary.  No tickets will be sold at the door.  The ticket will include admission and a buffet dinner. To make a reservation go to www.regonline.com/2013burnssupper.  Reservations are due by January 22, 2013.

On January 25, of each year, the people of Scotland celebrate the birth date of their nationalpoet, Robert Burns. As with all national poets, Burns was more than just a great writer in theveyes of his countrymen, but an embodiment of what it meant to be a Scot and his words resonate in the everyday lives of its people.

The most common way to celebrate Burns' birthday is with a Burns Supper. This was a creation of Burns appreciation groups in the 19th century as a way to celebrate, and even take jibes at, Scotland's greatest poet. This affair is both a solemn and jovial event full of poetry, speeches, good humor, music, dance, drink and a buffet of Scottish delicacies, including haggis.

A Burns Supper is more than just a celebration of the man himself, or the Scottish people, it is a celebration of poetry and the shared humanity that it embraces. Though Burns' writing was so colloquial to the point of being almost impenetrable by the non-Scot, his message of love and brotherhood are universal.

The Beaumier Center is planning to host a Burns Supper not only to celebrate Burns and the people of Scotland but also the world of poetry, music and dance. The Scots are another one of the Upper Peninsula's many ethnic groups but this event is more than just a Scottish event. It is essentially a cultural buffet of poetry, music, dance and food that can incorporate other traditions as long as they are faithful to the spirit of such an event.

There are several components to a traditional Burns Supper, including music, readings, and the ceremonial cutting of the haggis.  Numerous individuals have come together to create a unique event.