Fall 2017 - Constant Contact

Volume 46, Number 3 · Fall 2017

Table of Contents 4 Report for the Executive Secretary Semiquavers 7 Make Your Own Bagpipe 21 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Fall 2017 Vol. 46, No. 3 THE VOICE is the official publication of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association.

Features 16 Review: The Blockbuster by Ryan Canning 17 Fred Sangster: A Cleveland Pipe Band Drumming Legend Basics 11 Piping Basics: On Not Being Early, or, Pipe Happy, not Yappy

John Bottomley EDITOR [email protected]

Pipe Scores 8 Salute to Those Who Serve 14 March of the One-Legged Piper

Shawn Hall ART DIRECTOR [email protected]

Snare Scores 20 March of the Cameron Men 20 Pibroch O'Donauil Dubh

Editorial Inquiries/Letters THE VOICE [email protected] ADVERTISING INQUIRIES John Bottomley [email protected] THE VOICE welcomes submissions, news items, and photographs. Please send your submissions to the email above.

Branch Notes 21 Ohio Valley Branch 21 Southwest Branch

N THE COVER: O Debbie Kane catches some serious air celebrating the Rhode Island Highlanders' win at the Great American Irish Festival. Photo by Charley Beverage.

Visit the EUSPBA online at www.euspba.org

©2017 Eastern United States Pipe Band Association. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher. The Voice reserves the right to make the final decision on all content and advertisements. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the EUSPBA, its officers, or its editors.

EUSPBA MEMBERS receive a subscription to THE VOICE paid for, in part, by their dues ($8 per member is designated for THE VOICE). Membership is only valid from the date of application until the end ofthe calendar year. To ensure that you don’t miss an issue of THE VOICE, you must renew your membership early each year! Send membership inquiries and address updates for members to EUSPBA, PMB 316, 560 Peoples Plaza, Newark, DE 19702-4798, or email [email protected].

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The Eastern United States Pipe Band Association 2017 Annual General Meeting November 10, and 11, 2017

Embassy Suites 4800 Tryon St. Charlotte, NC 28217 Reservations 1-800-HILTONS and request the group rate for the EUSPBA Room Rates $122.00 per night Book by 10/10/2017 for this rate. Hotel shuttles are available. Tentative Meeting Schedule (subject to change) Friday Night : Reports / Old Business Saturday Morning: Proposals / New Business Saturday Afternoon: Workshops Sunday: Judges Seminar Eastern United States Pipe Band Association

The Voice Vol. 46, No. 3 Fall 2017 3

Report for the Executive Secretary Annual General Meeting

The AGM is held every year on a Saturday in November. Branches host this event on a rotating basis. This year we are following the format of last year’s meeting. The schedule is for a full membership meeting Friday night, November 10th 2017, so please arrive early so that you may participate that evening. We will be covering the annual reports and any other old business that night. Saturday morning we will again have a full membership meeting to cover the proposals submitted by the branches. Saturday afternoon we will break out for workshops. Please check the website for any updates on the meeting including reports and/or proposals that will be posted. Proposals will not be printed in time for the meeting, a projector will be used, and you are encouraged to print the proposals from the website and bring them to the meeting.

Eastern United States Pipe Band Association

By Sheldon Hamblin

Prior to the AGM, each branch shall hold their own meeting to have their members submit and discuss possible agenda items to pass on to the AGM. The purpose of these branch meetings is to make sure items are well thought out, clearly worded, concise, not in conflict with the by-laws, and that all of the ramifications have been thought through. Once this has been done, these items are sent to the Executive Secretary by Friday, October 27th, 2017, to be included on the agenda for the AGM. The branch chair or his/her designated representative is required by By-Law to attend the AGM to present their branch’s agenda items and speak for their members. Usually there is not a quorum of EUSPBA members at the AGM (this would be 15% of the total voting membership), so any business items brought up at the AGM cannot be passed there. After discussion, they can either be ‘killed’,


Report for the Executive Secretary or if the membership so desires, they can be brought before the Executive Committee or the Music Board. The committees then meet in early December to handle all of the business passed on from the AGM. This is also when the grading committee addresses upgrades. The Executive Committee then ratifies all business. Sometimes, actions on proposals take time and the executive committee continues to work on these proposals to completion. It is our goal to provide an atmosphere for our members which focuses on furthering the arts of piping and drumming. We do listen to our members, but we can’t listen if you don’t speak. Beer tents and Internet discussion groups are great places to swap stories, gripe and share ideas. But the AGM is where your opinion really counts.

Annual Mailing

There will not be any this year, at least no snail mail. I have been very diligent about following up on peoples’ email that has bounce, and most have sent me corrected emails. Notice as required by the bylaws will be done by email this year. You will not receive the ballots or bios for the executive offices that are up for election by snail mail. This year it is being done by email, the same way it was last year. The offices open this year are the executive secretary, treasurer and Officer at Large position 1. When you get this email, please do not consider it spam, in fact you may want to check you spam or junk mail folder to make sure it hasn’t been directed there. This email is specific not only to email, but to membership number also.

Membership renewal for 2018.

You will not receive this in the mailing. This form is available on the web at http://euspba.org/euspbamembership-forms/. Select the appropriate form, print it and send it in with your membership fee, or you may use the “Express Renewal” tab under “Membership” menu available at http://euspba.org/euspba-express-membership-renewal/

this form, please email me at [email protected], and I will be glad to send it to you. Fill out this form according to instructions and send it with your membership renewal to the address on the upgrade form. These must be postmarked no later than November 1, 2017. Letters from your instructor are welcome. The grading committee will meet in early December to address grading issues. Their recommendations are then forwarded to the Executive Committee for approval. Please direct all grading questions to the Executive Secretary at [email protected], and make sure all materials are submitted by the deadline. The results of your requests will be published on the web as soon as possible.

The Executive Committee

We continue to meet via the Internet, inviting the branch chairs and music chair when feasible. We attempt to meet the first Monday of every month, but during our busy season, it is not always possible. We are currently upgrading our website and are aggressively working with our own membership to make this work. Our goal is to make membership semi automated to again contain costs but also to supply our members with their numbers quicker than is possible currently.

Membership

Please get your membership form and dues into us as soon as possible. Express Renewal is available for existing members. Waiting until you are ready to compete in a late season contest costs more, and does not give us a clear picture of our membership. If you haven’t renewed yet, please take a moment to do so now, while you are on the internet. Respectfully Submitted Sheldon C. Hamblin Executive Secretary

Upgrade Requests.

You will not be automatically upgraded based upon your overall season results. If you feel that you are ready to perform at the next level, please print the form from our website. This can be found under the “Membership” tab and is labeled “Regrade Request” This form has been revised, please read carefully. If you are unable to print



We have our own traditions in the pipe band, little rituals and inside jokes, but we also get to feel a part of the tradition of our campus. Being a part of the pipe band makes you feel special and connected. — NICOLE ECCLES ’16

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Make Your Own Bagpipe

No, it’s not a new IKEA product. In 1975, Maclean Macleod was given a set of drawings with measurements for turning your own pipes. Robert Dougan, who created the plans, points out in his covering letter that “By the amount of pipes exported to U.S.A., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand from this country, there should be quite a lucrative hobby in making them for sale.” Mr. Dougan goes on to list the preferred woods for making pipes, in order of preference: “African Blackwood, ebony, the rosewoods, and boxwood, followed by the fruit woods cherry, pear, and apple. Following these one can


have the hard maples.” He adds that the cheaper woods might be oaky for drones, but not for the chanter, a hard decision to understand since the drones are so vital in creating the pipe sound. He ends his instructions with the note, “The tartan cover for the bag, the cords and tassels, and a set of reeds should be purchased.” Many thanks to Margi Murray for making these materials available to me.


Music: Salute to Those Who Serve

The room in which I normally practice has photos of my grandfather, and both my wife’s grandfathers, during the time of their military service in World War II (one sailor, one infantryman, and one pilot, all of whom saw combat in the Pacific Theater). As I was working on the tune it sounded like a salute, so I made the working title Salute to the Veterans. When talking about the tune with Laura Neville at the 2017 Piobaireachd Conference, she pointed out that there are many other ways people serve their country and community (police, firefighters, civilian government employees, etc.), and that it would be more inclusive to call it Salute to Those Who Serve. I agree.


I think the tune is best played boldly and not too slow. The embellishments can be played at almost any speed, from very tight to very open, but whatever speed they are played, the grips, darodos, and edres are all intended to match each other rhythmically. I prefer to gently slide through the E cadences rather than play them long in this tune. The crunluath variation is a little unusual — a regular fosgailte variation might be expected here — but I thought it was necessary to keep the stress on the C’s and B’s throughout. The performer is welcome to experiment with other ways to approach this tune, including playing a standard fosgailte variation.


Music: Salute to Those Who Serve



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Piping Basics: On Not Being Early, or, Pipe Happy, not Yappy There is an idea used in Statistics, Decision Theory, and related fields called asymmetric loss. Asymmetric loss refers to a situation where a choice is to be made, at least two types of errors are possible, and, while the errors may be measured in the same units, the penalty we face for making different kinds of errors are different. For example, when flying, arriving at the gate an hour before your flight starts boarding incurs a small penalty — a bit of time wasted in the gate area which you might have spent more pleasantly elsewhere — but arriving at the gate an hour after your flight starts boarding incurs a quite different penalty — starting with trying to find your airline’s service desk. It seems to me that many of us have a deeply ingrained sense of asymmetric loss with regard to time: I don’t pretend to know whether this occurs naturally, but it is certainly reinforced, if not created, culturally. From our earliest days, our parents were happy if we reached some developmental milestone early, but concerned if we reached it late. In school, we were penalized for being late but never, as far as I know, for being early (report cards I’ve seen list Days Absent and Days Tardy, but have nothing to say on the matter of Days Early). Additionally, the penalty for being late is strongly correlated with the importance of an event: for example, it’s probably worse to be late for a job interview than for a concert. Which brings us to music. Consider the following performance of a well known song in the public domain [1]: Happy birthday to yappy birthday to yappy birthday dear Pipappy birthday to you. Hmm. I think I know what song that was, but the performance was a bit… unclear? Muddled? Altogether too yappy, for sure. And who is Pipappy, anyway? As long-practiced experts on Happy Birthday to You, we can recognize what went wrong in this performance. The singer failed to finish the end of every phrase, and as a result has hit the beginning of each successive phrase early. In so doing, the singer has mostly lost sight of the message of the song: that the birthday wishes are for you, and that it is hoped your birthday is a happy one. The message

by Steve Knox

actually delivered by the performance is for Pipappy, and it is hoped that his or her birthday is yappy. One constructive piece of advice we could give to improve this performance is to suggest that the singer practice with a metronome, and that might result in some improvement. But just saying “practice with a metronome” does not explicitly address the real causes of the yappiness. The immediate cause, I think, is that the singer recognizes that the start of each phrase (birthday, all four times) is musically important and, based on a lifetime of received cultural influence, responds unconsciously to this importance by playing the phrase-starts early. This results in very short treatment of the end of the preceding phrase (you, three times out of four) and rushing through the pick-up (happy, all four times) to the start of the next phrase [2]. The ultimate cause may be that the singer does not recognize that the end of each phrase is musically important or, possibly, has not even identified where the phrase-ends are. So, at the risk of belaboring the obvious, let’s show our imaginary singer where the phrases are in Happy Birthday to You, as set for the bagpipe in Figure 1. By an astounding coincidence, this tune is composed of four two-bar phrases, just like every part of most bagpipe marches… and strathspeys… and reels, jigs, and hornpipes, and often even piobaireachd. The tune begins with a one-beat, two-note pick-up, Happy. Then the first two-bar phrase starts with the important word birthday. In fact, every two-bar phrase starts with birthday. Each two-bar phrase ends either with the long, single-note you or, in the third phrase, with the descending two-note Piper — now we finally know whose birthday it is! The phrases are glued together by connecting notes corresponding to to’s and happy’s. When we recognize the phrase-ends and give them their full value, and arrive at the phrase-starts on time rather than early, the whole song becomes a coherent message: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Piper, happy birthday to you.

Figure 1



Piping Basics: On Not Being Early, or, Pipe Happy, not Yappy Is finding the phrases in pipe music as easy as finding the phrases in Happy Birthday to You? For the most part, yes, thanks to the very regular structure of most of our light music. The only question sometimes is which notes towards the ends of the even-numbered bars are the the end of a phrase and which, if any, are pick-ups into the next phrase. The main point of playing phrase-starts on time, rather than early, is of course that our tunes will come across as more musically coherent. Our listeners will, consciously or not, perceive the beginning, middle, and end of each phrase, and thus be more likely to understand what our music is trying to communicate. A happy side effect is that our embellishments will tend to be more clear and precise, because suddenly they fit better into the music — or maybe because the part of our brain that executes embellishments understands the music better, too (fMRI studies of pipers’ brains are sadly lacking compared to players of other instruments) [3]. So, to recap: (1) know where your phrases end, and recognize that phrase ends are musically important (don’t cut them, even a little); (2) play any pick-ups which connect the end of one phrase to the beginning of another as connecting notes (not stressed); (3) hit the phrase starts

exactly on time, and not early; (4) enjoy the resulting musicality, and additional technical clarity; and (5) happy birthday! I arrived at your party exactly on time, so don’t tell me you’re already out of cake. [1] Good Morning to You Productions v. Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. United States District Court Central District of California, 30 June 2016. [2] In the language of music theory, the happy in Happy Birthday to You is an anacrusis, which means “push up” or “strike up” in ancient Greek. This term apparently was introduced to music theory by Rudolf Westphal, a 19th century scholar of ancient Greek music [C. F. Abdy Williams, Rhythmical Construction of Bach’s “Forty-Eight” Fugues, Proceedings of the Musical Association, 19th Session, London: Novello, Ewer, and Co., 1893]. I’ll stick with “pick-up”. [3] I. G. Meister, T. Krings, H. Foltys, B. Boroojerdi, M. Müller, R. Töpper, and A. Thron. Playing piano in the mind — an fMRI study on music imagery and performance in pianists. Cognitive Brain Research, Vol. 19, No. 3, May 2004, 219-228.

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Music: March of the One-Legged Piper March of the One-Legged Piper

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Review: The Blockbuster by Ryan Canning There is an odd feeling when opening a new book of bagpipe music, which everyone has experienced at some point or another in his or her piping life—The feeling of discovery mixed with a sense of deja vu. Once I was asked to review this book, I dove into it like a pool from the high jump board, plunging into the music with no concern for form. Whether the process turned into a 9.0 or a belly flop remained to be seen, but the very idea of new books of music coming out today and holding that musical gravitas is an exciting proposition indeed. From its very title, The Blockbuster, I was not only intrigued with the billboard chart-esque title but the implication of new great hits “Now that’s what I call bagpipe music: 2017” if you will. This book rapidly became an iteration of the who’s who of current bagpipe music. Perhaps a better term might be the what’s what. Nevertheless, bagpipe music books can easily become seduced by the self involved and inane, filled with the formulaic hornpipes, obtuse or obscure dedications and of course the inside jokes. But instead, with Ryan’s reputation as a composer already secured in the volume of his tunes played by grade 1 bands, this book seemed more like a trip down recent memory lane. I mean to say, if on the second page of the book there is a march which opened a World’s winning medley, then not only did it make the cut musically at a high level, but that it immediately helps with the recognition and gravitas for everyone who wishes to learn it.


by Derek Midgley

I don’t just mean a tune like the Octagon, and Shotts in 2015 respectively. I found in this book multiple tunes that immediately had me wondering which band played it when and how recently. For those of us keeping score, I believe the majority of answers to that question would be either Field Marshall Montomgery or Shotts and Dykehead. But lets not forget the title of this book, The Blockbuster which opened up a fantastic 2008 medley by the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band. If I had to write a criticism, I would take issue with one or two tunes that just seemed to be copy and pasted from a band medley with transition/breaks included. I would prefer the entire tunes in, so the student can make his or her own interpretation tunes rather than a pre-selected points of transition. If lower grade bands were to play them, then perhaps include transitions in the section with harmonies. Overall, this book does a fantastic job of representing the top hits of 2008-2017 and a collection of this certainly will take its place in the piping library as an equal. I can see multiple grade bands playing the tunes in these books for years to come, and the back third has a whole bunch of harmonies to go with it. Go ahead and purchase it, it’s a perfect representation of current pipe band vogue.


Fred Sangster: A Cleveland Pipe Band Drumming Legend

by Barry Conway

After the article “Cleveland’s Gem” which appeared in the spring 2016 issue of the Voice, I thought it only appropriate to write about another member of the Ohio pipe band community who had great influence over this region with regards to pipes and drums. Like a lot of cities, Cleveland’s pipe band landscape was greatly influenced by mostly Scottish immigrants who came to this country for a new life but kept a deep love of the music for their homeland. In Cleveland, no one had greater influence in pipe band drumming than Fred Sangster. Fred William Sangster was born in Edinburgh in 1905. His love of music developed early. By the time he was eight, he was already studying drums, clarinet, and bugle. When he turned fourteen, he joined the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. Fred rose to the rank of Corporal Drummer and served with the “Camerons” in Queenstown in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence. The battalion engaged in several fire-fights with the Irish Republican Army. Fred also served in Germany, Southern England, Spain, France, and on the island of Shamock in the Mediterranean. One notable event Fred attended with the Camerons was the 1924 Olympics held at the Stade de Colombes, Paris, France. As depicted in the movie, Chariot’s of Fire, the Camerons were positioned in the infield while Scottish runner Eric Liddell, “The Flying Scotsman,” won a Gold Medal for Great Britain in the 400 meter race after withdrawing from the 100 meter race as the qualifying rounds were on Sunday. Because of the Depression, the highland regiments were forced to cut back. Fred was given the option of enlisting for another eleven years or leave so, in 1929, Fred left his beloved Cameron Highlanders and move to the United States. Fred first worked for the Interlake Steamship Co. working on lake freighters. Because he was usually traveling the Great Lakes, he was not active in pipe bands. While docked in Cleveland, Fred heard the Cleveland Kiltie Band performing and got the itch to start playing again. He took a job with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Authority, a job he would later retire from in 1975, and began performing with the Cleveland Kiltie Band which had formed in 1923 by a group of immigrant Scots working at the Fisher Body Plant. They were the only pipe band in Cleveland at the time and Eastern United States Pipe Band Association

were associated with the Masonic Order and played at their functions as all members were also members of the Masons. In 1948, Fred was part of a group of musicians who broke off from the Cleveland Kiltie band and formed the Cleveland Caledonian Pipe Band as they wanted to enter into pipe band competitions. The Band was under the direction of P/M James Sheil with Fred as Drum Sergeant. The founding members included Don Ross, father of Doug Ross (former member of the Cleveland Caledonian Pipe Band, Clan MacFarlane Pipe Band (Gr1) and Toronto Police Pipe Band (Gr1), Pipe Major of the North Coast Pipe Band (Gr2) and retired EUSPBA Adjudicator). The band also included Willis E. Slagle, father of Noel Slagle, who went on to become Pipe Major of the Caledonian band as well as Pipe Sergeant of the Clan MacFarlane Pipe Band, Pipe Major of the Western Reserve Pipe Band (Gr 2), and an adjudicator for the Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario. The band was dedicated to a high standard of play and competed successfully at many Highland Games from its inception. A superb solo drummer, Fred won many medals and trophies including the Open Drumming award at the Toronto Indoor Games in 1951. In 1957, as drumming instructor, Fred traveled to Iona College in New Rochelle, NY with the St. Patrick Church The Voice Vol. 46, No. 3 Fall 2017 17

Fred Sangster: A Cleveland Pipe Band Drumming Legend Cleveland Caledonian Pipe Band 1948. Fred is in the first row to right of bass drum

Shamrock Pipe Band of Cleveland, to compete at an event sponsored by the Council of Gaelic Societies where it won first place, Irish Pipe Bands. In 1958, the Cleveland Caledonian Pipe Band, under P/M Jack Thompson, finished first at the Hamilton, Ontario Games where Fred’s drum corps also finished first. Over Labor Day weekend in that same year, the band traveled to the Schenectady Games where the band finished second to the Boston Caledonian Pipe Band. After the games, the players from Boston convinced the band to travel to Brookline, Massachusetts to compete in the games held on Labor Day. Again, the band placed second to Boston Caledonian Pipe Band. Because not all players could make the trip, Fred played bass drum and was awarded the “Best Bass Drum” award in the contest. Eastern United States Pipe Band Association

In 1959, under P/M Noel Slagle, the band again traveled to the Hamilton, Ontario Games and again finished first. The 1960s was a period where the Caledonian Pipe Band did not compete. Instead, the band performed locally especially at their Tartan Ball, which was the largest pipe band event in the state of Ohio at that time. Fred and his Drum Section “stole the show” with the unique drum beats and flashy stick work. As an aside, it was during this period that Cleveland Caledonian Pipe Band pipers Don Ross, Doug Ross, Noel Slagle, Stanley Limon, Bob Sloan, and Dick Finnigan traveled to St. Catherines, Ontario to play with the Clan MacFarlane Pipe Band. In 1977, the Cleveland Caledonian Pipe Band reentered the competition arena with Pipe Major Bob Sloan, now with the Atlanta Pipe Band, with Fred as Drum Sergeant. The band won first place at the inaugural Ohio Scottish The Voice Vol. 46, No. 3 Fall 2017 18

Fred Sangster: A Cleveland Pipe Band Drumming Legend Games as well at the Ligonier Highland Games. The band also traveled to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto, Canada to participate in the parade of pipe bands and to enter the pipe band competition. At the time, Fred was the only person to have held the drum sergeant position for the band. Fred retired from active playing in the early 1980s. An excellent teacher, Fred tutored more than 200 individual drummers and worked with drum sections of many different bands including Rocky River (OH) High School, the Cleveland Greys, the Heather Highlanders, the Shamrock Pipe Band, Ohio State University ROTC Pipe Band and the Band of Ohio, a concert Band. Fred’s more recent list of students includes Les MacLeod, lead drummer of the Western Reserve Pipe Band Gr 2, Patty Slagle of the Clan MacFarlane Pipe Band Gr 1, Michael Crawley, lead drummer of 87th Cleveland PB, Windsor Police PB Gr 1 and

From left to right, John Crawley, Fred Sangster and Jack Thomson performing

Great Lakes PB Gr 2, and David (Van) Walters of the 87th Cleveland PB, Western Reserve PB, and North Coast PB. A lover of all things “drumming”, Fred would frequently correspond with pipe band drumming great Jimmy Catherwood to exchange ideas and drum scores. Jimmy Catherwood, of Dalziel Highland and Edinburgh City Police Pipe Band fame, was instrumental in the founding of the Scottish Pipe Band Association which later became the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association. Fred also corresponded with other drumming greats such as Gordon Jelly, Alex Duthart and John Kirkwood. Fred was not limited to pipe band drumming and also corresponded with Gene Krupa, drummer for the Benny Goodman Band, where they exchanged ideas and drum scores over many years. One such composition was a score Fred referred to as a “Spanish 3/8” that Gene later incorporated into his show.

Fred Sangster: A Cleveland Pipe Band Drumming Legend Fred Sangster Drum Score March of the Cameron Men and Pibroch O'Donauil Dubh

Fred did not drive an automobile and always carried his drumsticks with him. He was well known for playing on the dashboard of whatever car he was in. No matter how long a trip it was, Fred never stopped drumming. A man of many talents, Fred was also an exceptional artist and woodcarver. He painted intricate designs on dozens of drums and was once featured on a cover of the Sunday Magazine of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Fred also designed the Cleveland Caledonian Pipe Band Crest and carved and painted a bar in his basement to replicate a rope tension drum complete with ropes, tension adjustments and painted snare head.


Fred passed away in 1992 at the age of 87 and is interred at the Brooklyn Heights Cemetery. Fred will always be missed by those who knew him but will never be forgotten. I would like to thank the many people who helped pull information together for this article including Ken Eller, Michael Crawley, Patty Slagle, Sandy Hain, Bob Sloan, Alec Murphy, Dick Finnigan, David (Van) Walters, and Bruce Greig.


The Pipes, Drums, and Dancers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police entertaining at the Loon Mountain Highland Games this year.

Branch Notes The Ohio Valley Branch The Ohio Valley Branch calculates its own Ohio Valley Champion Supreme by adding up points earned by Ohio Valley Branch members at Ohio Valley Branch events. We’d like to recognize this year’s champions. Grade 2 Band – Great Lakes Pipe Band Grade 4 Band – 87th Cleveland Pipe Band Grade 5 Band – East Side Irish American Club Pipe Band Professional Piping – Alastair Murray Grade 1 Piping – Laureano Thomas – Sanchez Grade 2 Piping – Josh Whitson Grade 3 Piping – Anne Gallo Grade 4 Sr Piping – Libby Guyton Grade 4 JR Piping – Glenna Van Dyke Professional Drumming – Alex Wright Grade 1 Snare Drumming – Isabella Jackson Grade 3 Snare Drumming – Nick Moore Grade 4 Sr Snare Drumming – Maria Gallo Grade 4 JR Snare Drumming – Helen Gallo Amateur Tenor Drumming – Fiona Conway Novice Tenor Drumming – Katie Craig Drum Major – Alec Brown

The date for the indoor events are set. The Ohio Valley Indoor competition will be held on March 25, 2018 at the College of Wooster. The event will feature morning solos, a mini-band competition as well as a college/university pipe band quartet competition. Eastern United States Pipe Band Association

We'd like to thank Patrick Regan and Edinboro for hosting this event in the past as well as thank Palmer Shonk and the College of Wooster for hosting this event this year. The College of Wooster is more central geographically to the OV Branch and should allow more members to participate. We have also changed the pipe band competition format to a mini-band competition to allow more bands to participate who may have been short on numbers. We further hope to expand on the 7 college pipe band quartets who attended last year and split them into two divisions. The Cincinnati Caledonain Pipes & Drums Indoor Competition & Workshop will be held on April 7, 2018. For more information, go to www.cincypipesanddrums.org

Southwest Branch We held our branch AGM and discussed the proposals that we are sending on to the association meeting in November. We are also preparing to hold the election for Branch Chair. The election was delayed by lack of a candidate for the position, but Nick Hudson stepped up and is prepared to fill it after a vote makes it official. I have agreed to serve as Vice-Chair, at least for one year, and John McCain will carry on in his position as Secretary. The Battle of the Bayou piping competition is coming up in November in Hammond, LA in conjunction with the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. The Louisiana Highland Games are also being revived this year, but will not offer piping or band competition this time around. Perhaps after they are re-established we will see a return of piping contests. The Voice Vol. 46, No. 3 Fall 2017 21

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