Sir Thomas Lachlan MacDonald Memorial Prize for Best Male Dancer. Thomas Lachlan MacDonald was born in Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand on 14 December 1898. In 1918, he volunteered for military service and went to the Middle East with the final draft of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. At the general election in 1938 he stood for Parliament as the New Zealand National Party candidate in the Mataura electorate, winning comfortably against a long-serving MP. Enlisting again as a private in 1940, Sir Thomas would have the rare distinction among MPs of serving in the Middle East in both the First and Second NZEF. During his second stint of active service, he rose to the rank of Captain before being invalided home in 1943 because of persistent illness. In 1961, he was appointed High Commissioner to London and served until 1968. Sir Thomas died on 11 April 1980 at age 81.
The Robert Burns Society of Charleston Inc. is recognized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to celebrating and sustaining Scottish-American heritage in the South Carolina Lowcountry. This commitment includes the promotion of historical awareness, cultural expression, and military traditions associated with Scotland. The Society fulfills its mission by hosting educational and cultural activities, supporting the mastery of traditional Scottish arts—such as Highland Bagpiping, Highland Dance, Scottish Fiddle, Scottish Harp (Clàrsach), and the Scots Gaelic language—and by providing grants and scholarships that support academic advancement within the Scottish-American community.
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