Maple Ridge in good shape despite departure of players

October 23, 2006

The Grade 2 Maple Ridge Pipe Band of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, thanks to an influx of new players, is still alive despite losing several pipers and drummers to other bands after the end of the 2006 season.

Pipe-Major Angus MacPherson, who was rumoured to have been seriously considering folding the band, has confirmed that he will remain in charge of one of relatively few British Columbia bands not affiliated with the Simon Fraser University organization.

According to MacPherson, Maple Ridge has had a large contingent of pipers and drummers from the Portland, Oregon, area travelling to play with the band for several years. The group recently decided to start a new Grade 3 band in Portland, resigning from Maple Ridge. The band has also lost several drummers, including its Leading-Drummer, Alistair Fraser, which had been planned for for 18 months.



“There is a bunch of well taught kids ‘graduating’ from the Sir James MacDonald Junior Pipe Band each year with essentially nowhere to go,” MacPherson said. “So now those players as well as the guys who played with us will form the nucleus of the new band.

“Pipe section wise, we’ve lost a few, picked up a couple and will end up with a decent size corps. The drum section will be a little thin to begin with but we’re hopeful Cam Bullis, our new lead tip, will attract some younger guys over the course of the winter.”

Maple Ridge held the distinction of being the only band to hand a loss to the Grade 2 Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band in 2006, beating RMM in the Medley event at the Pacific Northwest Highland Games at Enumclaw, Washington in July. Maple Ridge finished twelfth in its qualifying heat at the World Pipe Band Championships.

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