Missing Maxville AND Montreal

Been watching all the Maxville preparations online this week. As the largest and best Highland Games in North America, the Glengarry Highland Gathering attracts top bands from across North America, and sometimes event the UK. The CRPB has been a semi-regular band at Maxville since our first trip, in 1996.

That year, we had a new lead drummer, a young guy from Moose Jaw who had experience with Alberta Caledonia since he was 13. Ryan is a wee bit older now, and with years of experience in Grade 1 and 2, and now he's leading his Rocky Mountain Pipe Band drum corps in its first attempt at the Maxville Games. In the drum corps are ex-CRPB members Dave Roth and Andy Kopciuch, and the pipe-major is another guy who made that first CRPB Maxville trip in 1996—Sean Somers. We had some good years in Maxville and Montreal, placing well in the Grade, to not a few people's surprise.

At the other end of the country, Gord Perry is leading an excellent Fredericton Pipe Band toward Maxville. Gord also gained his first Grade 2 experience at Maxville with the CRPB. For a couple of seasons, we had Gord Perry and Brad Clyde join us from Winnipeg for the big summer contests. Gord has been working hard to build the Fredericton band, and Brad Clyde is still with us.

Maxville is a fantastic contest, and quite spectacular in many ways. The gathering of bands from so far, the judging panel, the Maxville solos, the large entry, the great grounds, the PPBSO's fantastic organization of it all, and the more than 30,000 people who come to take it all in. We'll miss being there to compete, and we'll miss hearing the Grade 1 bands do their thing.

Best of luck to former CRPB members taking the field in various bands, and especially to Rocky Mountain Pipe Band, going for the first time.

While bands are hard at it in Maxville, the CRPB will be having a last weekend practice before we leave for Scotland. We have a pretty full playing schedule, which takes in North Berwick Games, Bridge of Allan, The Piping Festival, Pipes of Peace Festival and Concert, the Worlds, and Perth Games. Watch here for updates.