Round Hill Highland Games take center stage in Norwalk

NORWALK -- Dan Dillon made the boots himself. A thin piece of metal, only a few inches long, was affixed under the toe of each boot, and when it came time for Dillon to hurl a 16-pound rod with a metal ball at one end, he kicked each piece of metal into the dirt and secured himself to the ground.

He picked up the Scottish "hammer" -- the rod with a 16-pound ball at one end -- with one hand first, got steady, and using two hands began to swing the weight around and around before letting it go over his shoulder. It traveled 103 feet through the air before hitting the grass with a dull thud.

Dillon, a former competitive discus thrower, joined dozens of other like-minded athletes who enjoy lifting and throwing heavy objects Saturday afternoon at the 88th annual Round Hill Highland Games at Cranbury Park in Norwalk. The games drew hundreds of kilt-wearing athletes, bagpipers, dancers and fans of Celtic culture from throughout the tri-state area.

Dillon is a librarian and coach at a private boys school in Long Island, N.Y. A former elite discus thrower, Dillon now competes in the professional divisions of games after switching sports 12 years ago.

"This has more camaraderie," Dillon said. "Track-and-field is pretty cut-throat, especially when you're in the higher levels."

The games had the laid-back feel of a reunion of sorts, except when one athlete slipped and sent the hammer hurling into a crowd of spectators. Dillon stopped the errant hammer with the broadside of his left arm. It left a long red welt on his bicep that stretched onto his forearm. Dangerous accidents aside, it's the sportsmanship that keeps Dillon in the games.

"There's not that much money in the games," said Dillon, who is sponsored by Sport Kilt, a maker of highland games attire. "There is a sportsmanship here that you don't find anymore."

The highlight of the games, the caber toss, was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The event asks participants to toss a long, thin pole, often more than 15-feet-long and make it complete a full flip in mid-air. Marion Hamilton, 70, president of the Round Hill Highland Games organization, said the heavyweight competitions were a way for old Scottish kings to select their strongest knights. The caber toss, though, is more about balance and skill than it is brute strength.

"They're in it for the love of playing," Hamilton said of the athletes. "They're very dedicated."

The highland games also featured a pipe band competition in which bagpipers played in the middle of a field and before judges. Hamilton, a piper herself, said the variety of offerings at the highland games drew a multicultural crowd, despite the event's obvious Celtic leanings.

Hamilton, a South Salem, N.Y., resident, grew up north of Inverness in Scotland and moved to the United States after taking a year-long trip when she was 21. She came back to the United States to work for well-known bandleader Benny Goodman and ended up staying.

James Ferguson, the 74-year-old uncle of late-night CBS talk show host Craig Ferguson, served as the game's master of ceremonies, occasionally making announcements over a loudspeaker with a thick Scottish burr.

"I haven't showed up for any of the meetings," he said when asked about how he was chosen for the MC role. "I'm sure it was the accent."

The Armonk, N.Y., native grew up in Glasgow and enjoys seeing throngs of people celebrate the culture of his native country.

"It makes me proud that we still maintain the Scottishness, but I've been an American longer than I've been a Scotsman," he said.