Blackwood Cracks in the Cold
The weather has been frightful here on the Canadian prairie in the last couple of weeks, and it seems like "not" bagpipe weather. In fact, it's the perfect time to play. If you don't, you can almost hear blackwood cracking in the boxes. Despite the cold, we've been having good practices, and have had a couple of excellent band weekends.

A couple of weekends back, we had trouble getting a regular location for practice, and we ended up renting the hall at the First Presbyterian Church which has been the home of the Fraser Pipe Band in Regina since the 1960s. So, it was "deja vu all over again" for a few of us, pictured [L-R]: Alex Rasmussen, Pat (Clemence) Luchenski, Iain MacDonald, Barb (McDougall) MacDonald, Arlene (Clemence) Kary and Karen (Hastings) Hala—all former members of the Fraser Pipe Band. We all spent a lot of time in that church hall, and it was fun to be there.

It was also at that band weekend that the members decided on a contest and travel schedule for the 2010 season. Despite some strong interest to return to Maxville and Montreal games, we did not have enough members who could make it that weekend, so instead we have launched a much more ambitious project: returning to the UK in August 2010 for competitions and events. This is a far cry from a couple of years ago, when the band had neither the members or the ability to make such a trip happen. So, 2010 should be an exciting year [again] for the band.

Watch for the band to make a major uniform upgrade in the new year, and we are also going to soon have some [more] exciting news about the Mid-Winter Celtic Festival. In the meantime, if you live in Regina, come out to Arthur Guinness' Birthday Party at O'Hanlon's Pub on December 23rd. We'll be there.