Outlander creator Diana Gabaldon is set to be given a special award at a glittering fundraising gala in New York.
Next month (April 14), the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA (NTSUSA) will host its 15th annual event, A Celebration of Scotland’s Treasures, at The Metropolitan Club, with Diana set to receive the 2022 Great Scot award.
In the United States, the NTSUSA encourages Americans to connect with Scotland's nature, beauty, and heritage and to protect it for future generations.
Diana was considered to be the perfect candidate for the award in 2022, which has been designated as Scotland’s Year of Stories.
“We are simply delighted to recognise Diana Gabaldon as our Great Scot in 2022,” said Helen E.R. Sayles CBE, NTSUSA’s chair. “Ms. Gabaldon’s series reflects the family histories of so many Americans, who have found through Outlander a deep and profound connection to their Scottish ancestry and heritage.”
Under the guidance of event chair Naoma Tate, the black-tie evening raises funds on behalf of the American friends group of the National Trust for Scotland.
Over the past two decades, NTSUSA has committed more than $10 million to support the National Trust for Scotland's most urgent conservation priorities.
This year, NTSUSA focuses its fundraising efforts on the Hebridean Isle of Canna and the remarkable archive of Gaelic culture amassed there by John Lorne Campbell and his American wife, the photographer and folklorist Margaret Fay Shaw, during the mid-20th century.
The National Trust for Scotland's ambitious plans for Canna will achieve the Campbells' commitment to ensuring the preservation of the distinctive Hebridean way of life, landscape, and culture.
A Celebration of Scotland's Treasures is a festive evening that begins with a whisky tasting by The Macallan. Alasdair Nichol, Chairman of Freeman's auction house and a frequent appraiser on PBS's Antiques Roadshow, recites Burns' Ode to a Haggis before dinner and later presides over a live auction.
The evening ends with a full-blown cèilidh. Guests in various iterations of tartan dress dance to traditional Celtic music performed by the Skye Trio and special guests.
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