Piper's Journal
| Monday, July 28 2003 | Practice night and the whole band came out. I guess they know it's the last practice for the summer, and they also know about the tradition of the Pipe Major buying on this wonderful night. I must say that free wings are always the best wings. |
| Friday, July 25 2003 | Graduation day for the police cadets. Free sandwiches and beverages. Another flawless performance for the ol' band. |
| Monday, July 21 2003 | Practice night again. Graduation is coming up this Friday. I know this sounds repeatative, but it gets better in later entries......trust me. (Yummy wings) |
| Monday, July 14 2003 | After tonight, we only have another 2 practices until we break off in August. We do it every year, not to worry, there will be many things to report. (To the 2-3 people, including myself, who actually read this, I will keep typing away) |
| Saturday, July 12 2003 | Finally!! Swan-E-Set Golf Course wedding reception, without problems. Also, the R.C.M.P. Honour Guard was in attendance with their lances. The bride and groom made quite an impressive procession. I led them through the "Tunnel" of R.C.M.P. lances and directed them toward the head table. No wings ;( |
| Monday, July 7 2003 | Good Practice tonight. We read our adjudications from the Coquitlam games, and were pleased with what the judges wrote,(In most cases). Good wings. |
| Monday, June 30 2003 | No wings tonight. Practice cancelled due to the holiday tomorrow. |
| Saturday, June 28 2003 | Coquitlam Highland Games! It was a good day for the Vancouver Police Pipe Band. We received first for Drill and Deportment, third in the M.S.R.(March, Strathspey, and Reel contest). Our Medley needs a little work. We managed sixth. Beer tent was a busy place. |
| Monday, June 23 2003 | Wing night. I love those chicken wings. Practice went well. We attempted a new counter-march, and managed to pull it off a couple times. This weekend will be the big one as far as highland games go. Coquitlam holds the B.C. highland games. It usually turns out to be a good competition, followed by a huge gathering at the beer tent. I'll let you know. |
| Monday, June 16 2003 | Practice night. Had a good practice, and some excellent wings. Nothing big to report. |
| Saturday, June 14 2003 | Sons of Scotland Highland Games, Abbottsford B.C. The most un-organized function I've ever attended. There were more pipers and drummers than guests, and all the guests were family of the bands and dancers. We placed 2nd in our category, but we can't prove it because we have no witnesses. |
| Thursday, June 12 2003 | Wedding day at Swan-E-Sey Bay Golf Club. 1 hour drive to the club, from downtown Vancouver to Pitt Meadows. Rush hour of course. I was greeted by the concierge in the lobby, and was informed there was no wedding scheduled for today, (><). I made a couple phone calls to make sure I wasn't in the wrong place, phew, not my fault. As I was ready to drive away, a man drove past me, and found a spot to park. He and his wife got out of their car and jokingly asked me to play their golf tournament, and walked away. 20 seconds or so later, the man had thought it all out and made an attempt to recruit me. His attempts were successful. For $150 he had a piper for the next couple hours. |
| Monday, June 9 2003 | FINALLY! We got the go-ahead to practice at our regular place again, and what a difference. After practice, I ate another 15 chicken wings at our local watering hole, good stuff. |
| Saturday, June 7 2003 | Bellingham Highland Games. 22 pipe bands. Really impressive games. It was an extremely hot day, I am now very crispy. Our pipe band placed a respectable 6th place. One of our pipers, we'll call him John, was scheduled to play at a wedding next Thursday at an upscale golf resort. There is no possible way for him to make it on time, so he passed the gig on to me. |
| Friday,June 6 2003 | 1:00 pm, Police Academy graduation at the Justice Institute (J.I.)in New Westminster. Had a few laughs with the band after the festivities. 5:30 pm, I played again at a policeman's wedding in Langley. |
| Monday, June 2nd 2003 | Monday! Band practice day. Fine tuning for upcoming games in Bellingham. Band sounds terrible in our new practice location, due to echoes in the gymnasium. Maybe next week we will return to our regular place. Damn fine chicken wings at the pub, as per usual. |