It was an exciting and eventful year for bands in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Dartmouth & District Pipe Band had a busy year of competing, traveling and performing. The grade 3 band competed at the Summerside, Moncton, Pugwash and Antigonish Highland Games and had a great showing at each. They then traveled to Scotland and competed at North Berwick and the World Pipe Band Championships, placing 5th and 8th respectively. This marked the first time a Dartmouth & District band has competed at the World’s. While there they also performed concert's at St. George’s Square during Piping Live! and inside Sterling Castle.
The grade 5 band competed at the Summerside, Moncton, Pugwash, Antigonish and New Brunswick Highland Games and looked and sounded great each time. Also, many members of the grade 5 band competed in solo competitions and made Dartmouth & District proud. One grade 5 drummer even traveled to Maxville to play and placed first!
The following are a few fundraisers and performances produced by Dartmouth & District during the 2011-2012 season: St. Andrew’s Day Family Ceilidh and Jigs, Reels and Beers at Durty Nelly’s, Ceilidh on the Harbour, 5k Celtic Fun Run, and Ria Mae House Concert for Scotland. All were a wonderful time and were well attended. Dartmouth & District was also invited to perform at the Casino Kitchen Parties throughout July and August and the Raise a Little Help fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity.
Planning for 2013 is well underway and the band has already received numerous requests to take part in community events. One special event of note will be participation in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City on Saturday, March 16, 2013 as part of a larger RCMP composite pipe band.
The band welcomed several new members to its ranks in 2012 as well as welcoming back two members who had been deployed overseas with the military. It is good to have them home safe and sound.
As always, the band is recruiting for new members, so if you or someone you know is interested in making application to the band please contact Wayne Moug at waynemoug@eastlink.ca or through the band website at www.RCMPpipeband.ca