Cheers to all! My name is Katie Scarlett Kaminski and I am the St. Andrew's Queen of the Highlands for 2006. With my year having come and gone, I would like to tell you all what a great reign I had.

 I first would like to formally introduce myself and explain that despite my not-so-Scottish last name, I am a Scot to the core and am qualified for the position. Since before I was born, I was destined to take part in the wonder that is Scottish culture. My mother and aunt were Highland dancers from a very young age, and now I take great pride in following in their footsteps. With the help of my family and now dancing, I have learned a great deal about my Scottish heritage. I have been attending the St. Andrew's Games for years and it's always one of the highlights of my year. After seeing the Queen display and the lovely 2005 queen, MacKenzie Bruce, at the games last year I knew I wanted to apply. Since I was selected from the other finalists, I was honored to help represent such a wonderful Society.

I had the great opportunity to take part in many events during my reign. I attended a few St. Andrew's Society meetings as well as a number of parades and festivals through the summer. Some of the events I appeared at were the Alma Highland Games and parade, the Kirking of the Tartans at Christ Church Cranbrook, the Lilac Festival parade on Mackinac Island, the Canterbury Village Scottish Days, the Good Morning America 4th of July parade in Plymouth, the Cherry Festival parade in Traverse City, the Linden Summer Happenings carnival and parade in Linden, and the Saline Celtic Festival and parade, where I met Lt. Governor John Cherry and Attorney General Mike Cox. I was honored to attend each of these events and proud to represent St. Andrew's. I had an unbelievable amount of fun making these appearances and they are experiences I will never forget. They have helped me learn a great deal and also extend the Scottish heritage out to many others.

Another wonderful development during my reign was the creation of the "Queen's Corner" in every edition of the Highland Fling. It was great to be able to reach out every month and tell about past and upcoming events during my queenship. This article has helped create a great awareness and promotion of the queen program and keep me in touch with everyone in the Society. It is most certainly a greatly appreciated addition to the newsletter.

The biggest event of my reign occurred on August 4th and 5th, which was the St. Andrew's Society Annual Highland Games at Historic Greenmead Village in Livonia. It was an honor to be such an intricate part of the games and represent the society as their queen throughout the weekend. It was a gorgeous weekend and I had a wonderful time. My first appearance was at the Ceilidh Friday night. I got to meet some entertainers, talk and dance with the attendees, and even introduce the headline act, The Glengharry Bhoys. The day of the games was a busy, but fun one. I spent the entire day enjoying every aspect of the games. Some of my duties included handing out dance awards, judging the Clan tents, handing out Tug of War awards with the guest of honor, Dick Purtan, taking pictures with the whole lot of "wee bairns" and even teaching some of them to hula hoop, and I also had the chance to choose the winning raffle tickets at the end of the day. It was a wonderful weekend that I will never forget. It was an experience of a lifetime and I am honored to have been given the chance to do it.

Following in the footsteps of such a remarkable queen before me was intimidating, but I tried my very best. I have had a marvelous time over my year and representing this Society has been a pleasure. There is no more rewarding way to represent my heritage and to pass it on to others. I will forever take pride in saying that I was a Scottish Queen of the Highlands.

In years to come I foresee the Queen program to take flight. Sheila and Bree Brownlee spend countless hours trying to make this program a successful and respectable part of the already admirable St. Andrew's Society. They have made my entire queen experience a good one and I believe that they will see the program continue to flourish. They deserve a heartfelt thank you for all the effort they put into this magnificent program.

Finally, I would like to give deep thanks to the St. Andrew's Society's members. I had the opportunity of meeting many of you and you have all been a joy. I have never met such a welcoming and genuine group of people. I am extremely appreciative for all you do and it was a true honor to represent you.