Another Great Weekend at the Games

The Moose Jaw and Regina Highland Games are now past, and it was a great weekend. The weather was fine for band events, and unfortunately was miserable in the mornings both days. Players suffered through cold and biting wind on Saturday in Moose Jaw [still not sure why] and Regina was indoors in the morning.

The Conservatory of Performing Arts Pipe Band emerged from the weekend as Saskatchewan Grade 4 Champions for the 4th time in the last five years, and many of the band members did well in solos, so it was a great weekend for all in the organization.

The City of Regina Pipe Band played no small role in the weekend, despite not being "on the field" for competition. Band members organized the piping and drumming events, the Queen City Open Highland Dancing Championship, and members played a variety of volunteer and support roles throughout the weekend. As well, the band played at the Regina Ceilidh, and that was quite a bit of fun, and good to get a couple of people out for the first time since...Perth Highland Games!

This week, we're looking forward to a vist from Tom Foote and we'd encourage all drummers to take advantage of the workshop on May 26. Details HERE.

On Your Mark, Get Set...

The next two to three weeks are going to be busy. There is the start of the Scottish pipe band season, and me making a Grade 1 attempt with ScottishPower, and while the prairie season has already started, the May Long Weekend Games usually is a "start" for many bands. This year, the CRPB will be playing at the Regina Highland Games Ceilidh with whatever members we can muster for the event, and of course working hard with the Conservatory of Performing Arts Pipe Band and its competitions over the weekend.

On that note, Brandon Games was a great day for the band members,m with lots of piping and drumming prizes across the board and two very improved band sets from Winnipeg Games in February. The new medley was well received, and the band played very well in that event. [OK, we were surprised, but it was a good surprise!]

So, a number of CRPB members are heavily into organizing parts of the Games weekend here, so it will be busy. The weekend following, we are having a one-day drum workshop with Tom Foote who currently hails from Rochester, NY and is a member of the Toronto Police Pipe Band. Tom has a long history with Grade 1 bands going back to the Clan MacFarlane, 78th Fraser Highlanders and Metro Toronto Police. If you are a snare drummer and anywhere close...you should come. Details here.

What does any of this have to do with the City of Regina Pipe Band? Well, just this: all the current band members' new experiences, organizational contributions, and skill development are going to come back to the CRPB when it gets back competing.