Powell River Clansman Pipe Band members travelled to Victoria Highland Games on the May long weekend and came away with first place in competition in their class.
Clansman president and pipe sergeant Ann Snow said 11 members of the band competed on the Saturday and Sunday in the grade five category, and were required to play a quick march medley, which consisted of five tunes played continuously – one after the other without stopping.
The band took six pipers and five drummers to the competition. A couple of pipe band members couldn’t make it to the event.
“We put in a lot of practice,” said Snow. “We’ve been practicing for the better part of a year. We have been going through the selections over and over.”
She said it was the band’s first time competing at the Victoria Highland Games. She said the band likes to go to highland gatherings as much as possible. The reason why they picked Victoria was due to it being the 160th anniversary of the event and they made a big celebration out of it.
“It’s a lot of fun to meet other pipers and drummers and rub elbows with better pipers and drummers,” said Snow. “We picked up some tips and the camaraderie was great.
“We wanted to go to Victoria for quite a while now but it’s expensive because we had to spend three nights in a hotel. It took us a couple of years of fundraising to be able to attend the games. Having taken first place in our category, we were thrilled.”
Snow said the classes are divided up in ability. Class one is for pipe bands such as Simon Fraser University, which has won the world championship in the past. Clansman Pipe Band competes in class five.
“Class five means we mostly do performances and we’re not super competitive, but competing allows us to raise ourselves and compare ourselves to each other,” said Snow. “We were in the lowest category but we’re not ashamed.”
Clansman Pipe Band has a significant age range, with members as young as 13 and a member in their 80s.
The members, in addition to competing, were able to hear some great musicians playing, which was very enjoyable. Snow said the more experienced players are very good about giving pointers.
“They’ll come up and say ‘let me give you a hand,’” said Snow. “It’s really worthwhile going. It was instructional as well as competitive.”
Because of the win in Victoria, Clansman Pipe Band has enough money to go to the Campbell River Highland Gathering in August, so they will be competing there as well.
Clansman Pipe Band is looking for more members, both pipers and drummers. The band has a website at clansmanpipeband.ca, where there is contact information.
