It was an evening of long goodbyes on February 19 when fans of The Newport Tartan gathered at The Surf Club. According to LAOH president Kathryn Brady, long goodbyes are the ultimate compliment in a city where festivities happen multiple times a week and Irish exits are the norm.
You’ve likely spotted the Newport Tartan around town, the cobalt blue scarf, tie or kilt woven with crisscrossing lines of green, yellow, white, red, and black. The pattern was created by Kelley Coen and endorsed by the Newport City Council in 2020 as the city’s official tartan. Coen copyrighted and registered the design with the Scottish Register of Tartans (#12919) in September 2020.
Net proceeds from scarf, tie, and related product sales support scholarships, nonprofit organizations, and events celebrating Newport’s diversity, history, and community. Coen recently visited the Edinburgh factory producing the sixth weave of the Newport Tartan. She met the seamstress who hand-sewed the labels on the very first run and learned it’s rare for a tartan to receive even a second weave, let alone a sixth.
“It shows the community support we have … and we’re just getting our groove,” Coen enthused before thanking the crew at The Surf Club, the Kilroy family, the Bonrock Foundation, volunteer Nancy O’Sullivan, and Frankie Silvia. At the mention of Silvia’s name, someone in the crowd shouted, “I love that guy!”
Coen invited event attendees to march with The Newport Tartan (TNT) in the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day Parade ahead of the Thompson Middle School Marching Band, which TNT is sponsoring. Those already committed elsewhere can look ahead to the April 11th NYC Tartan Day Parade in Manhattan, featuring grand marshal and Outlander hottie Sam Heughan.
“Walking up Sixth Avenue is really a thrill,” Coen said, noting that The Newport Tartan has been the only group representing Rhode Island and New England in recent years at a parade attracting 3,000 marchers donning tartans from around the world.
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