Philip Dietterich announced at the Tartan Day meeting held April 4 at the Old Whaling Church that President George Bush had on that day issued a proclamation regarding the observance of April 6 as National Tartan Day.

Although a Senate resolution had established April 6 as Tartan Day several years earlier, a Presidential proclamation is necessary in obtaining coverage of the observance in calendars around the country, such as that given each year in the Peter Simon calendar. It was also noted that the mother of James (Scotty) Reston was born in Scotland.

When the Senate resolution was first introduced by former Senator Trent Lott in 1997, the Scottish Society of Martha’s Vineyard was named as one of the sponsors, along with the Scots’ Charitable Society of Boston, the oldest charitable society in the United States.

The Presidential proclamation contained this statement: “Scotland and the United States have long shared ties of family and friendship, and many of our country’s most cherished customs and ideals first grew to maturity on Scotland’s soil. The Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish Declaration of Independence signed April 6, 1320, embodied the Scots’ strong dedication to liberty, and the Scots brought that tradition of freedom with them to the New World.”