Parading in Surrey, Vancouver and Quebec City

RCMP E. Division Pipe Band, Canada Day Parade, Vancouver 2012

Ah summer. Officially it starts June 21, but with the pleasant spring weather recently, the RCMP pipe band has been able to get out into the great outdoors where the soft summer breezes mingle with the pleasant sounds of a great pipe band running through their musical repertoire.

This is also the competition season for many other BC pipe bands, and they too are playing outside in various locations, preparing for the next big event, the Coquitlam BC Highland Games June 22.

We are busy with a number of performances this summer, including a trip to Quebec. The Surrey RCMP Auxiliary graduation ceremony is this Saturday in Cloverdale, and for many member of the band, it’s a great way to start the BC Highland Games day. On Canada Day, the band will be front and center at the Vancouver Canada Day parade through the streets of Vancouver, leading an RCMP troupe and a number of other RCMP units.

New billion dollar practice facility for RCMP pipe band in BC

RCMP E. Division Headquarters, Surrey, BC

Vancouver – OK, it’s not necessarily built for the E. Division Pipe Band, but we do get to use it.

This spring, the RCMP E. Division Pipe Band has started to practice in the new $975 million headquarters of the RCMP in British Columbia.  The new building consolidates all existing RCMP headquarters throughout Metro Vancouver into a new secure site in the City of Surrey, known as the Green Timbers site.

For years, the RCMP headquarters were scattered around several aging buildings in the Fairmont area of Vancouver, near 37 Ave. and Heather Street. The Fairmont facility was non-purpose built, was significantly overcrowded, poorly located operationally and reaching the end of its useful life. The Green Timbers site provides a central, integrated, purpose-built headquarters facility for E Division while meeting current safety and security standards.

Preparing for Robbie Burns and world class tennis

Ah, the new year. Time to take down the Christmas tree, pack away the decorations and settle in for the long haul to spring. Kids are

Piper leading in haggis at Robert Burns supper

back in school, swimming lessons, music lessons, the list goes on. What really is there to look forward to in January?  More cold weather and clouds. Well, if you’re Scottish or someone who appreciates a great night out, there is one bright spot on the January calendar, and we can thank a well known Scottish chap for that.

January 25 is the birthday of the bard of Scotland, Robert Burns. And what a great time to have a birthday. It’s a month since Christmas and a long way to anything else of note in the new year. Pipe bands around the Lower Mainland are preparing for the celebration, with music, dancing, speeches and of course haggis. The Delta Police Pipe Band, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band and the Dowco Triumph Street Pipe Bands are just three of the bands hosting Robert Burns suppers.

RCMP honour fallen comrade

E. Division Pipe Band leading procession. (Photo courtesy 24Hrs)

Langley, BC – Thousands of RCMP officers from around Canada, along with colleagues from police, fire and sheriff departments throughout BC, Washington and Australia paid their last respects to a fallen comrade at an RCMP regimental funeral in Langley on Tuesday, November 20.  Cst. Adrian Oliver was killed in a vehicle accident while on-duty in Surrey, November 12.

The RCMP E. Division Pipe Band, under Pipe Major Hugh Peden and and Drum Major Rob Smith led the procession into the Langley Events Centre. Both PipeMajor Peden and bandsman and active RCMP officer Frank Townsley provided pipe solos during the ceremony. The Vancouver Police Pipe Band, Delta Police Pipe Band and the Seattle Police Pipe Band also participated in the ceremony honouring Cst. Oliver’s life.

We were honoured to play a part in this solemn occasion and felt immense pride to be the pipe band representing the national police force of Canada.

Hundreds expected at Remembrance Day ceremony in Cloverdale, BC

(The following is a reprint of a story from The Cloverdale Reporter, by Jennifer Lang.)

Cloverdale Remembrance Day ceremony, photo courtesy The Cloverdale Reporter.

Surrey, BC – A colour party from Royal Canadian Legion Branch 6 and a parade of local veterans will lead off this year’s Remembrance Day ceremony in Cloverdale.

At 10:30 a.m., the parade will enter Surrey Museum Plaza, where they’ll be joined by members of the Surrey RCMP, the RCMP E Division Pipe Band, and serving members of the military, along with Surrey firefighters, emergency services personnel, and army, navy and air cadets, local Guides, Scouts, Sparks and Cubs.

The massive ceremony is held at Surrey’s World War I Cenotaph, beside the Surrey Archives building at 17671 56A Avenue. Bleachers will be set up to accommodate some of the crowds expected.

“It’s been growing every year,” Branch 6 president Frank Redekop said.

The ceremony includes a service, prayers, two minutes of silence observed at 11 a.m and “The Lament” from an RCMP bagpiper. Flypasts featuring Harvard military aircraft and another by the Fraser Blues will soar overhead.

After the laying of wreaths of remembrance, the RCMP pipe band and veterans will lead the parade back to the Cloverdale Legion.

There, participants, friends and family will gather for food and refreshments.

Marching into the summer heat, finally.

RCMP E. Division Pipe Band, Canada Day Parade, Vancouver 2012

One of the benefits of being a performance, non-competitive pipe band is the chance to enjoy the summer months without the stress of competition and travel. Now that summer has finally arrived in BC, it’s something many (but not all) RCMP band members are enjoying.

Many of us have years of competition under our belts. We know the routine: gearing up Friday after work or hitting the road early Saturday morning to drive to a highland games in Penticton, Seattle or elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. The days can be long, with constant checking of your watch to make sure you don’t wander too far from the tuning circle, standing in that circle while the heat (or rain) beats down on you, protecting your instrument from the elements and the pressure and adrenaline of marching to the line and competing.  There is the draining of tension after the final note dies away, and the camaraderie of fellow competitors in the beer garden afterward. Those days are behind most of us, however our lead tip, Carol Fraser, continues to compete with the New Westminster Police Pipe Band and we wish her well as she prepares for the Seattle games and the World Championships in Scotland in August.

Our band recently played for a great Canada Day parade in downtown Vancouver. The conditions were great. Not too hot or windy, an appreciative crowd and a solid turnout of pipers, drummers and RCMP members (see photo). Now, if only all parades were this ideal!

Our band has taken a few weeks off prior to a private function in Whistler in August. We will be gathering for two practice sessions for that event during July, but with the nice weather, it will be a chance to see everyone again, play our tunes outside under the trees of the Justice Institute of BC and forget about the months of cold and wet we must endure here in our corner of British Columbia.

I hope everyone has a chance to make it to a highland games and to enjoy the beautiful summer weather that has finally arrived. I know my pipes appreciate it.

Burgers, beer and bagpipes for a good cause

Join the RCMP E. Division Pipe Band, friends and families (well, those over 19) for a social evening of beer, burgers, music and comradeship at the Cloverdale Legion on Saturday May. 5.  There will be lots of music, conversation and maybe even some dancing. The band will be playing tunes from its recently released first CD “Live in Langley”. Copies of the CD will be available for purchase during the evening.

For information, call Rob Smith, 778-834-5316

This is a fundraiser for the band, so your support is most welcome.

It’s here!. E. Division Pipe Band new C.D.released

It’s here. A live recording of the RCMP E. Division in concert with the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir last October.  This is our first C.D. and is available for purchase online or as a C.D. at one of the band events. To purchase online, please click here.

A few photos from a recent band practice

The January blah’s may be upon us, but this is a great time to spend learning new tunes and working on band ensemble. Here are a few (smartphone) photos from a recent RCMP E. Division band practice at the Justice Institute of B.C. Pipe Sgt. Bruce Coulter was at the helm, guiding us through old and new tunes and preparing the band for the upcoming Davis Cup tennis tournament in February.

             

Getting together, feeling the music…and the cold.

Ah, autumn. The leaves are falling, short days of grey clouds and rain, and that creeping feeling of cold in your bones.  Every piper who plays on Remembrance Day, usually the last outdoor performance, knows what I’m talking about.  The warm days of summer are long behind us and it’s indoor practices from now until the spring.  I do admit, however, that we have it easy here in Vancouver. I can remember playing the lament at a Remembrance Day ceremony in Goose Bay, Labrador 10 years ago.  It was -11.  No indoor ceremonies for those hardy Labradorians…or the poor piper.

 On Friday November 11, the RCMP E. Division Pipe Band along with a troupe of RCMP members will march our veterans to the cenotaph at the Cloverdale Legion in Surrey. We look forward to playing, and paying our respects to those who have given their lives to protect our freedoms. Cold hands and fingers are a small price to pay.