Thursday Doors – Bagpipes and Church Doors

Bagpipes and Church Doors.

A couple of Saturday’s ago, Nov. 5th to be exact, I decided that I wanted to check out the “Virginia Room” of the main library.

This is where they have a very large selection of reference material as compared to the branches.

The main library in Roanoke is located downtown (it has no dedicated parking area).  

Parking downtown is limited and costs money.

Since I was just going to see what it looked like, I decided to wait until the weekend when some of the public lots and garages are free.

I convinced the hubby to go along even though I doubted he’d be amused by the research room.

But downtown is always fun.  

I don’t pay close attention to upcoming events so it was a delightful surprise when we parked and saw the Veteran’s Day Parade in process.

Veteran’s Day Parade.

We saw the Virginia Military Institute band in line so we went to stand along the route.  

I love a good parade.  

People in the parade were handing out little American Flags which I proudly waved.

Many people in my family and the family I married into have served in our military, swearing to defend and protect us.

I have a deep respect and admiration for the courage and sacrifice that they and many others give readily for us.

Bagpipes.

I really wanted to hear the band because I love to hear bagpipes.

I didn’t know much about the heritage of three of my grandparents and where their lineage traced prior to America before starting this genealogical journey.

However, my maternal grandfather’s heritage was well known.

My grandfather, Andrew McLachlan Scott, moved to the United States from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, Canada when he was one.

His mother, Annie Simpson, had been born in Wigan, England and his father, George Brown Scott, had been born in Plains, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

They had each emigrated, when younger, with their families to Canada.  

They had family in California that sponsored them to come to the United States in 1923.

Annie Simpson passed away when my Grandpa was 10.

His paternal grandmother, Agnes McLachlan, came to live with them for a time.

My Grandpa said that her Scottish accent was so heavy that many of the neighborhood kids couldn’t understand her.

His father, George, played the bagpipes in local parades with the Canadian Army.

He had served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I until he was shot in the thigh in Belgium.

Scottish Heritage.

Being Scottish was one obvious in my history.

My Grandpa was always known as Grandpa Scotty.  

Everyone always called him Scotty.

I was probably double digits before I realized that was a nickname based on his last name.

Up until then, I remember thinking it was peculiar that someone would name their child Scotty Scott.

I haven’t had much luck tracing the Scott/McLachlan line.  

I do know there are some Baird/Johnston/ Munn connections, all out of Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Doors.

Of course, no trip downtown would be complete without some doors.

I’ve been eyeing taking photos of this church for some time.  

But usually, I am just driving by.

This church is St. John’s Episcopal church, built in 1892.  

It is on the National Register of Historic Places.  

The gate above was the entry into a garden.  

They happened to be hosting an art sale that day, another pleasant surprise.

I loved the woodwork on this entry and who doesn’t love some stained glass!

While I didn’t travel beyond the area holding the art sale, a quick google search will show that the inside is magnificent as well.

It was the middle of the day, not the best time for taking photographs, but I actually loved the way the sunbeams cut across the entry. 🙂  

Check out the host of Thursday Doors, Norm 2.0, for some other amazing doors.

I’ve added the clip I took of the VMI band.  It’s about 18 seconds because I wanted to text it to my mom.  

Enjoy! 🙂

Let your light shine!

Amy