The Historical Newsletters page has been updated with the release of archival B.C. Pipers’ Newsletters from 1978.
Besides the regular news of competitions and results, BCPA Life Member Bill Elder has compiled the following interesting news of that year:
- BCPA Life Member Pipe Major Malcolm Nicholson C.M. invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. He is the first person (and to the present still the only) to be awarded the Order of Canada for services to piping.
- A Report on the Summer Piping and Drumming School at Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan that included the syllabus of a Pipe Majors’ Certificate
- The Spokane Piobaireachd Society 1978 Competitions, which included set tunes for the Banner (Professional) and Medallion (Amateur piobaireachd competitions, as well as set tunes for the introductory March competition before the player’s piobaireachd performance
- Announcement of the inaugural Yukon Highland Games
- Announcement of the release of the Vancouver Police Pipe Band album
- Entry form for eligibility to the Northern Meeting Gold Medal, which includes the requirement to submit the player’s piobaireachd competitions results track record and Competing Pipers’ Association grading
- Event details for the 26th Seattle/Tacoma Indoor Meet jointly sponsored and run by the Clan Gordon, Keith Highlanders, Northwest, Seattle, Tacoma Scots, and Washington Scottish Pipe Bands
- The last monthly amateur competition of the season concluded with an impromptu Ceilidh with Jack Lee and Hal Senyk performing and 4 amateur pipers on the day performing a highland dancing reel and half tulloch (Pauline Alakija, Charlene Ogilvie, Patricia and Darleen Miharija)
- John D. Burgess Piping Recital was packed
- Results of the 46th Annual Gathering at Simon Fraser University, with PM John D. Burgess and PM J.C. Yardley as the judges (first time two senior piping judges had been retained). The published schedule showed all amateur solo events, quartets and junior mini-bands were run on Friday and only the Professional events and senior mini-bands were run on the Saturday
- Comments from John D. Burgess and J.C. Yardley on the Annual Gathering. Burgess’ comments included a prophetic statement on the Professional players “I listened with awe to some first class music. One young man stood out and should go a long way in the world of piping.” and a similar one on the pipe bands “The Pipe Bands in Scotland should be starting to get worried (if not so already) because in this field I heard some music which did the heart good.“
- Portland Highland Games moves their Professional Piobaireachd event to the night before the Games
- Write up by James McColl following the Portland Games
- Results of the Legion Highland Games, held in Kamloops, which included a very wide variety of events and participation by a large number of legion bands and their members
- Jack Lee wins the March and Strathspey & Reel events and places 3rd in the Silver Medal at the Northern Meeting
- Reports of the thefts of Jim Hardie’s pipes and Hal Senyk’s pipes (both sets were old Henderson drones with a Hardie chanter). Miraculously Hal’s pipes were recovered decades later when they were found at a flea market in Vancouver.
- 22 pipers enter the 1978/79 Knock-out competition
- Announcement of a new summer piping school in 1979, the B.C. Academy of Pipe Music run by PM James Watt CD
- The October 1978 monthly amateur competitions results reported the first instance of a prize won by Malcolm Bokenfohr (first in the Chanter event; Malcolm is one of the two pipers that the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band is named for)
Please note: During the 4 years from 1976 to 1979 the numbering system for the Newsletters became a little erratic. We will print copies in the order that we think is correct. If anybody has Newsletters from this era and notices a missing issue, please let us know.
