The following info is for your FYI: They are not official PFFNH Pipe & Drums functions, but they came to us via the website, and you are free to attend if you want.
Details on the workshop for anyone who might not have gotten them before (for those who have already seen this, I apologize):
Date: Saturday, 02/21/09, and Sunday, 02/22/09
Time: 0900 - 1700 both days (might be slightly shorter on Sunday) with one hour lunch break
Location: TBD but probably the Quincy Shipyard (or somewhere within the 128 belt) . Not only an excellent and extremely accomplished player, Sandy is one of the best instructors I've ever had.
Instructor: Sandy Gordon from Fredericton Society of St. Andrews Fredericton Society of St. Andrew Pipe Band
Cost: It's going to cost $900 total ($600 airfare, $300 for Sandy's teaching fees). My plan was $40 per individual, $150 per band (five or more people from a band). That will cover all instruction for the entire weekend. I'm hoping folks could come both days, but if not then it would probably be $20 (individual) or $75 (band) for one day.
Agenda: Nothing set yet, will kind of depend on who is coming. My thoughts were to work on 1) tone and tuning 2) starts and stops 3) playing at correct tempo WITH the drummers 4) technique 5) expression. Sandy has said he'd be happy to do some ensemble stuff with pipers and drummers. We could either work on the tunes we already play or pick a new one (or two) and work on that. I'm open to suggestions. (Just as an FYI, Sandy is VERY good at teaching strathspeys! LOL! )
I can't think of anything else, but if anyone has any questions just let me know.
PS. We have six, possibly seven individuals committed to the full weekend at $40. That means we need $660 more (17 individuals for full weekend, or four bands willing to pay $165 instead of $150, or five individuals at $40 and three bands at $150....) Hello all,
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The Greater Boston Firefighters Pipes and Drums are marching in
the South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade this year. The date is
Sunday March 15, 2009. I know it's short notice; but if anyone is interested in marching with us please contact our band manager
___________________________________________________________________ Our 2009 Keeping Tradition Alive Pipes, Drums and Honor Guard Symposium is set for May 14-15, 2009. If you did not get the opportunity to participate last year We have some changes this year that everyone should be aware of so please read through this information page. 
The National Honor Guard Academy will be holding their weeklong Academy from May 8-13, 2009. If you would like more information on this course or would like to register then visit National Honor Guard Academy Home Page.
Registration for the Keeping Tradition Alive Symposium is $50. We were trying very hard to host the conference without charging a registration fee but do to the rising costs of this event the small fee was unavoidable. You can pay this fee by check made out to the City of Lewisville or if you wish to use a PO from your agency we can accept that. You will need to mail a copy of the PO with the registration. You will have to print off the registration form and mail your registration. Registration will be limited to 350 participants and we will need the registration fee paid before you are guaranteed a slot. Each participant needs to complete a registration form.
This year’s symposium will include the same instructors. We are looking at adding a bass drum and tenor drum instructor. A significant note for the pipers, please read! The registration form will ask for your piping skill level. If you are signing up as an advanced level piper you will be required to play for Don Shannon on the first day. This is to ensure that everyone is in the appropriate skill level and each participant gets the best quality instruction. Use the following definitions to assist you in judging your skill level:
- Beginner - would be a piper that is primarily on the chanter and still learning or working on the embellishments
- Intermediate - would be a piper that knows most of the embellishments, is fairly proficient at them and can play a few tunes on the pipes.
- Advanced - would be a piper that knows all the embellishments, and can play them clean (on the pipes). Advanced piper can play all the tunes on the symposium playlist and more.
Pipers I have added an information page which has the song list and music downloads ****HERE****
We will again provide complimentary transportation to and from the airports and to any off-site venues. If you require transportation we will need your flight information as soon as it can be provided. If you do not have the travel information at the time of registering don't delay mailing your registration. Just make sure you indicate on the form that you will need transportation and we will get the details from you at a later date.
Room rates for this years Symposium will remain $99 per night at our host hotel The Hilton Garden Inn Lewisville. You can book your rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn. Make sure you tell them that you are booking for the Keeping Tradition Alive Symposium to secure the proper room rate.
We look forward to seeing each and every one of you this year so mail in those registrations. If you have any questions feel free to email Terry McGrath or call 972-219-3595.
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Milwaukee Firefighters Honor Guard and the North Shore Fire Dept. > Honor Guard present the 2009 Honor Guard Clinic. The Clinic will be > held May 28, 29, and 30 2009. The price of the class will be $125 > p/p. The Clinic includes Classroom instruction/handouts, Drill and > Ceremony instruction, hospitality room, and banquet dinner. the Host > hotel will be the Radisson Milwaukee North Shore, 7065 N Port > Washington Rd, Glendale WI 53217.
> I will have the room price by this Friday. This class is for Fire > Department and Police Departments that either have or are trying to > start an Honor Guard. please pass this on to anyone you feel may be > intrested. Also email me if you or your Honor Guard my be sending > members.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Brent Jones
> Commander
> Milwaukee Firefighters Honor Guard
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>
Also I would like you to send out a request to All
Fire Department Pipes and Drums Band , that either have attended our
week of Fun during FDIC's in the Past or are just starting to attend
it .That we start playing on Wednesday Morning , the Opening Ceremony
at 8:30 AM and and Play during the rest of that week at different
events...It is a great week of Fun for Everyone.
This year's FDIC week is April 20-25, 2009..... Also I am
trying to put together a FDIC " CD " to sell this year at Our Booth
..I would like to have all bands submit , one or two sets , and sent
it to me from all those Bands , so that we can put in a CD form and
after all monies are paid out for the making of the CD is paid , the
rest of the Money will be Donated to a Local Charity , like the Riley
Children's Burn Center ... Thanks again and hope to see many of you. ClaytonThomas....Drum Major
Indianapolis Firefighter's Emerald Society Bagpipe Band
809 Dunbar Drive Cumberland, Indiana 46229 ( 317 ) 445-9548 ( cell )
www.indypipes.org
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Hello again, everyone;
If you are planning on attending, please be aware that the revised dates are Thursday,July 2nd for the massed band practice, July 3rd for the actual parade and July 4th (for those of you who can stay) for a bar tour.<
I currently have 20 rooms blocked out in a hotel that is right downtown and really close to the start of the parade route and the practice area….really
convenient. Out of that 20 rooms, I have Toronto Fire P&D coming out and taking 10 of those rooms, so they are going fast. I also have received replies from
Seattle Firefighters P&D and one of the members from Tualatin Valley
Fire P&D that have expressed interest, so please let me know ASAP if
you or your band wants to get in on the action!
I hope to hear from more of you soon…and from this point on, I will only send information
to those who have responded back to this email.
With that in mind, please pass this on to the other members of your respective bands
because the more the merrier!
Telephone: (403) 287-4233
Cell: (403)813-9913http://www.firepipeband.com
If you are receiving this email, I have met you at one event or another, and most likely it
was at the Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Colorado Springs, CO. Some
of you I have met a few times over the past few years and others I
have met just this past year. Regardless of where or when, I am
sending this to you as an official invite for you to pass on to your
respective bands to come join the Calgary Fire Department Pipes &
Drums to form a massed band and march in the 2009 Calgary Stampede
Parade. For those of you who don't know about this event…it's a big one…actually, huge. The parade
itself is a 5 km (3 mile) jaunt through downtown Calgary that is
watched live by the approx. 250,000 people that line the streets and
the countless millions that watch it on a nation-wide TV broadcast.
If you would like some more info on the parade itself, please click
the following link: http://csmarchingbands.calgarystampede.com
For more info on the whole Stampede in general, click this one:
http://calgarystampede.com
During Stampede, Calgary's population swells drastically as people from all over the
world come to take part. The city becomes one massive party town
along the lines of Mardi Gras.
Obviously, we are in the early stages of getting this together, but this is what we have in
mind. The parade itself falls on Friday, July 4th,
2009.That may be the first hurdle for our American friends as your bands may be
playing already at some local event for the holiday. But in speaking
with some of you down in Colorado this year, I got the impression that
the date didn't matter and that some bands would be interested in
coming north of the border. Hopefully, that is still the case.
Bands would need to be in Calgary the day before the parade at the latest. We would be
holding a practice for everyone on Thursday (July
3rd)in hopes of getting everyone to play together and sounding like we've
been together for years! The parade starts early Friday morning and
we are usually done before lunch but that depends on where we get
placed in the parade. We have our local union hall located right at
the start of the parade route (very convenient!!) for us to get
dressed and tuned up. It is also a great place to relax a bit after
the parade…before the real fun begins!
that would be a "bar tour" of various local establishments until the wee hours…but may
include other events as we can plan them.
Accommodations for the bands will be at a hotel which is very friendly with us (CFD) and is fairly close to the Stampede grounds. But since the city sees so many extra visitors during this time, rooms can be hard to come by.
Obviously, the sooner your band can commit to attending, the sooner we
can block the rooms. Bands would also be responsible for their
transportation during their stay here (rental van) but the Stampede
Parade board has offered a bus to shuttle our entire group down to the
parade start on that morning from the host hotel.
So in a nutshell,plan to be here from July 3rd - 5th and be prepared to have a great
time! Our band is currently at 13 members and we would like to enter a
massed band of approx. 40+ into the parade. If a few members of your
band want to come, that is great…if the whole band wants to come…even
better. We'll make room.
