28 schools, some from as far as Walterboro, SC and Bassett, Va, took to the gym floor in competition during last weeks "Tartan Celebration" winter guard competition hosted by Scotland High School.

Of the 28 schools at the Carolina Winter Ensemble Association event, three were from Scotland County: The Scotland Prep Group, which finished in first place in its Scholastic Regional A classification; The Scotland Cadet Group, which finished in second place in its cadet classification; and the Scotland High School group, which finished in fourth place in its, more challenging, Scholastic A classification.

The cadet group is made of younger winter guard members, while the prep group is comprised of novices to the winter guard experience. The Scotland High School winter guard group is made of the most experienced guard members in the county.

Chris Young, father of one of the Scotland Prep competitors, was responsible for organizing the event, and "making it happen," said Ashley Davis, one of the Tartan Celebration's coordinators and instructor in the Scotland County winter guard operation.

"We kind of planned this last minute ... but I think everything went well," said Davis.

Davis added that she was "really impressed with the (Scotland Cadet group), who just had the intro to their show rewritten."

"The prep group did a really good job, and the high school group really could have done better," she added.

Scotland High School Bands Director Mark Doerffel, who was responsible for managing on campus logistics on the day of the event, said that he felt "everyone who came had an enjoyable experience."

"This event brings people to Laurinburg. They see our groups perform, and that lends credibility to what we do here, and the community gets a chance to see other groups doing what we also do so that they can better understand and respect the activity," added Doerffel of the impact of the Tartan Festival on the county.

Doerffel said that while there were more competing groups in attendance than expected, there were actually fewer spectators than had been anticipated.

He pointed to the rainy weather and the poor economy as likely culprits for the slightly disappointing attendance numbers.