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Upcoming Events

September 27th - Scottish Heroes, 5:30pm, via Zoom

November 8th - 60th Anniversary celebration, Pacific Club

  • complete Celtic Calendar
  • Looking forward: January 25, 2026 - Burns Night - this year will be on a Sunday, and his actual birthday!

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We can accept donations through Squareup - click here to visit.

The Caledonian Society of Hawaii is a qualified non-profit 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.

Donations are gratefully accepted and deductible to the full extent of the law.

Please consult your tax advisor regarding specific questions about your deductions.

 

Welcome


September 27th - Scottish Heroes XV, 5:30pm, via Zoom

Anton Anderssen will talk about Rev. Stephen Hawker: Cornwall’s Oddball with a Heart of Gold. If Monty Python had invented a Victorian clergyman, they might have just plagiarized the life of Rev. Stephen Hawker of Morwenstow (1803–1875). This was a man who once dressed up as a mermaid, not for Halloween (which Victorians didn’t really do), but simply because he thought it would be entertaining. Imagine your vicar flopping around on the rocks in a fishtail costume, scaring fishermen and giving the seagulls free dinner theatre. That was Hawker’s idea of a good Tuesday. But under all the whimsy, Hawker was a hero—especially to Scottish sailors.

Kevin Bogan’s hero will be about Scottish Inventors: "Out of hundreds of inventions and Scottish inventors, this presentation focuses on 28 notable Scottish inventors highlighting their life, inventions, details and impacts. Our world would be radically different in the absence of these inventors and inventions."

Join us on the Zoom to learn much more about these Scottish heroes, Saturday, Sept. 27th at 5:30 pm. A link will be sent via email before the event for anyone interested. Please email Kevin Bogan at kevin.bogan@gmail.com to register.


November 8th - 60th Anniversary celebration

This year we are celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Caledonian Society. At the Burns Dinner on January 25, 2025, a video recap of the 10 years since the 50th Anniversary celebration in 2015 was shown. We will gather to celebrate again on November 8, 2025, in the Card Room of the Pacific Club, 1451 Queen Emma St., Honolulu. This buffet dinner event will be for current Society members and one guest, and only $75 each person. See the September-October newsletter for more information.

To register, please download the form (PDF), or visit our Square shop (a service charge of $3 per person will be added).


2025-2026 Events

October 31st - Spooky Stories, Soup and Supper, 5:30pm

November 8th - 60th Anniversary celebration, Pacific Club

December 27th - Pre-Hogmanay

January 25th - Burns Night - Oahu Country Club

February 21st - Ulster Scots Immigration Presentation, in person

March 21st - Movie Night and potluck, 5:30pm

March 28th - Grand Scotch Tour

April - Scottish Festival, weekend to be determined

April 26th - Scottish Heroes - Kings and Queens, 5:30pm, via Zoom

May 24th - Music Workshop by Lisa Gomes

June 20th - AGM, Tartan History and barbeque

 


The Caledonian Society was established in 1965 by a group of ex-Scots and other interested people who were living in Hawai'i, and who wanted to educate themselves and others and enjoy the culture of Scotland while honoring their new home. Most months there are activities such as a soup supper, a movie night, or a ceilidh (a gathering with entertainment).

Each January the Society honors the Scottish poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796), with a dinner to celebrate his birth. His poetry is read, sung or performed and of course there is haggis and bagpipes! Anyone interested in Scotland or Scottish culture is welcome to join the Caledonian Society. You do not have to be Scottish (by birth or by ancestry) to be a member.

From 1976-1992, The Caledonian Society sponsored an oral history project involving Scots in Hawaii, which resulted in 26 oral interviews being taped and transcribed for research purposes. In 1986 a monograph entitled "Speaking of Scots in Hawaii" was published. Many of the stories from the interviews and from some of the more famous Scots who visited and came to live in Hawaii can be found in The Story of Scots in Hawaii, a book published by The Caledonian Society in 2000. An order form for the book is available (PDF).

Please consider becoming an active member of the Society.


The Scots in Hawai‘i

Scots have been coming to Hawai‘i since the end of the 18th century. They arrived with other Westerners soon after Kamehameha the Great unified the islands and Captain James Cook, a part-Scot, opened Hawai‘i to the West.  Hawai‘I’s own Princess Ka'iulani was half Scottish. Her father, Archibald Scott Cleghorn, who arrived in Hawai‘i in 1851, was born in Edinburgh. He married Princess Miriam Likelike, sister of Queen Liliuokalani and King Kalakaua. Cleghorn served in several government positions under the monarchy and was Governor of Oahu under Queen Liliuokalani.

Many Scots either immigrated to Hawai‘i or passed through as visitors, since the first seafaring Scots discovered our beautiful islands. A visit by the author Robert Louis Stevenson in 1889 was well publicized and has an historical note because of his friendship with King Kalakaua and Princess Ka'iulani.  There have been many immigrant Scots who brought Scottish values of education, integrity, hard work, democracy, and community service to the sugar industry, banking, government, business, and horticulture, enriching life here for everyone as Hawaii developed.  

Please consider becoming an active member of the Society.


Scottish Education Research Grant (SERG)

The Caledonian Society makes awards to young people for study related to Scotland through the Scottish Education Research Grant (SERG). Awards of up to $2000 may be given each year to students to undertake and complete a project about Scotland, Scottish history or culture. The award is generally granted by the Awards Committee in the Spring of each year and the project must be completed during the following summer or academic year.

Previous awards have included a look at organic farming on farms in Scotland; a study of the Gaelic (Scottish language) at a college in Scotland; and a re-creation of the route taken by David Balfour in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Kidnapped. The Committee will be happy to consult on ideas for research, projected costs involved, or other matters to make the application process and project a success. To learn more about the Grant and to print an application click here.


Please Donate

The Caledonian Society of Hawaii is a qualified non-profit 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.  Donations are gratefully accepted and deductible to the full extent of the law. Please consult your tax advisor regarding specific questions about your deductions.

 

 

Copyright Caledonian Society of Hawaii - Last updated September 9, 2025
Email us at info@scotsinhawaii.org