We’re months from St. Patrick’s Day, but Iowans of Irish heritage are gathering today in Davenport for the fifth annual Celtic Highland Games. Coordinator Lisa Lockhart says one of the focal points is the Scottish Heavy Games of Strength.You can see linebackers in skirts throwing around telephone poles and rocks. There is also the Highland dance competition that’s attracting 88 dancers from seven states. Lockhart says some of the Games of Strength have their roots in defending castles, events like the caber toss, which is a heavy, long, wooden pole picked up vertically and heaved. Hearing the music of bagpipes can bring a tear to the eye — for some, because of its beauty. For others, because they hate the sound. Lockhart says the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds is also hosting an onslaught of bagpipers.For more information, surf to “www.celtichighlandgames.org”.
