Quick March

Joe and his wife, Maggie

Joe Kilna MacKenzie

It was with sad regret to learn today that an oldfriend of St. Andrew’s Legion, Joseph “Joe” Kilna McKenzie of the Scottish music group, Clann An Drumma passed away in the early hours this morning, April 28th, 2009 in Scotland.

Joe with his group, was a frequent visitor to many a SALPD practice back in the days when the group toured the United States. If one goes to the Clann An Drumma website, the silver snare drum he is playing, was presented to him by the SALPD as a gift. I snagged that photo for my memoirs.

Joe wrote the famous tune “Sgt McKenzie” in an immortal tribute to his grandfather, Sgt. Charles Stuart McKenzie, Seaforth Highlanders, who was killed in action during World War One. SALPD was given permission by Joe, to perform the tune, and though many bands across the globe play the tune now, it’s sacred amongst the Legion and it is considered a precious gift from a great musician.

The tune, performed by Joe and Clann An Drumma, became one of the tracks in Randall Wallace’s blockbuster movie, starring Mel Gibson.”We were Soldiers”, soon became prominent on youtube.com tracks across the globe and various other web sites, to honor the brave men and women of the US Armed Forces and Allies.

Joe was an ambassador for Scotland. A true Warrior of the Highlands at heart, he inspired many of us to keep in touch with our heritage. To him, being a Scot was everything. Scotland lived within him, and he lived for Scotland.

When the original group of Clann An Drumma broke up into different directions, Joe undauntily, perservered to keep the name and music of Clann An Drumma going.  Personally, I am grateful to be friends with all the old group members, and more grateful and thankful to still have had Joe as a friend. He and I still communicated after he returned back to Scotland, but sad to say, I was not aware of his illness. For reasons very pesonal, I can only say that Joe and I shared a lot of personal knowledge and beliefs, and to Joe I say this to you my brother of the Gael, You led, you did not yield, and you held your ground. It’s not about us, it’s about our ancestors, and who we come from, that makes us who we are. If heaven truly is a place beyond our wildest imagination of tranquilty, then I know you’re up there, somewhere on a heather covered hillside, beating a new drum for all Scotland’s children to come hame.

“We will remember them” and in this case, Joe,

We will remember you,

 Godspeed &  Alba Gu Brath!

Tim

Joe with Fay King

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Wanted to take a quick second to update everyone on some of our upcoming events. This Saturday April 25th at Arizona Joe’s (formerly Dublin’s Irish Pub) we will be opening for Seven Nations. I have it on good authority that there could be something special going on. What? You’ll have to come to find out. Legion starts at 8:00 ish and Seven Nations starts and 9:00ish. Get mad at your fiddle boy!! (don’t know what it means? check out the new album)

May 9th we have been asked to do two gigs and unfortunately we can’t do them both. The folks at the Bon Air Victorian Parade had asked us to come back again but we had already committed to the Ettrick Celtic Festival. For more information on Ettrick check out the Ettrick Historical Society Things kick off in Ettrick at 10:00 AM. Hopefully the weather will be better than last year. For a quick reminder of things click here. May 30th is the Loch Studly Celidih that Pipe Major Shuff throws. It’s a chance for the band to whoop it up a bit in a really scenic and fun atmosphere. Not to mention totally awesome bar-b-que. June 6th finds the Legion playing two events at the Virginia Fallen Firefighters Memorial and the Ashland Strawberry Festival. June 13th we will be in Powhattan with Mr. Childress again helping raise money for the Famlies of the Wounded and McGuire Clinic. It’s always and honor and privilege to play for and help those who have done so much to fight for and protect our freedom. July 4th will be the annual march on Scotsville.

I’m sure there may be some more events sprinkled in here and there as Tim always forgets to tell us about an event or two. We look forward to seeing everyone and performing the music we love. We should have some newer members with us up on pipes. Those not on pipes yet seem to be making great strides since we broke them up into smaller groups and everyone is getting a little more personal attention. Robin has done an amazing job getting everyone to get the basics down. Between Robin and the help of Mary, Chance and Brian at GRPD the entire band is sounding pretty amazing.

One last thing to mention since we haven’t really put it anywhere but a big congratulations to Chris Fox who was promoted to Corporal at the Irish Festival. Chris really deserves it. He works hard and is really technically sound. So when you see him give him a good pat on the back for a job well done. Hope to see you all soon.

SALPD Honoring the past… Marching to the future.

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Thanks to all who made it to perform for Westhampton United Methodist Church’s Easter Services and also, we extend our sincere gratitude to the church, Mac Walker & Reverend Rosemary Welch for making us feel so welcomed and giving the SALPD a home. The love the congregation has for us is overwhelming and we’re very grateful to be a part of their service.

Our next major event will be the Ettrick Celtic Festival on May 9th, and we’re excited. There’s even a possibilty we may be joined by another Pipes & Drums unit who just recently formed in the north central part of the State, consisting of 14-25 pipers and  drummers of High School youth.

Keep up the good work, and pass on your knowledge,

Pipie

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To some 1057 lbs may seem light to others it may seem like a lot, but that was the total amount of food collected in the first Celtic Cans food drive. We also managed to collect $200 as well. The weather was something in and of it’s self. Warm, sunny, clear blue skies almost perfect conditions for an outdoor event. At 12:00 it was a go. Mark it down Albafeire started playing, GRPD and the St. Andrew’s Society were manning the truck and the first Celtic Cans started off low key and with little fanfare but great music. I wish the crowds were bigger to start off as Albafeire is truly one of my favorite groups. (and should be one of yours as well) We were off to a good start and I couldn’t think of a better way to start.

The crowds continued to build as the day went on and they were entertained by folks from Mary Smith and Turf Fire to the Thistle and Shamrock dancers to the St. Andrew’s Legion Pipes and Drums. The various Societies and groups took their turns helping load the truck and informing people of their group and about all things Celtic. There was a definite “feel” to the event that I really enjoyed and that was of people coming together to do some good and have a good time. I personally met folks I had never met from St. Andrew’s Society, Ancient Order of Hibernians, as well as the Scottish Society. I also learned what the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Lady’s Ancient Order of Hibernians are about and what they do.

Several pipers as well as myself were stopped by families and individuals and asked to explain our uniforms and asked questions about the pipes. I always get a kick out of explaining all this to kids. You get the ones who can’t believe you are wearing a “skirt” and then you get the ones who are completely fascinated by the whole thing, and then the ones that just love the loudness of the pipes. The great thing is no matter the age they are all interested, always listen and are very appreciative.

Andy and Rare Olde Times were very hospitable as well. The food was great and the beer was cold. I don’t really think you can ask for more than that. But you still got friendly service and good music while in the pub it’s self. I saw Andy bouncing back and forth between keeping up with things on the inside and checking out what was going on outside as well and he seemed to be enjoying everything that was going on.

Turf Fire wrapped up the afternoon in an appropriate fashion with a couple of sing alongs. I think the day on a whole was a success for the first one. Some lessons were learned to help make the next one more successful and a good time was had by all. I wanted more food but it’s a good first step. Hopefully Celtic Cans will be around for a while and will keep uniting the Celtic groups of the Central Virginia area and helping those in need.

A Big McLarge Huge thanks to everyone who helped behind the scenes and to all of those who came out and donated food. I’ve said it before but it truly is amazing when you can come up with an idea present it and people like your idea and make it a reality. If you have any comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind please let us know and we’ll try to incorporate it into the next one. You can send your feedback to secretary@salpd.com Thanks again to everyone and here’s to 2500 lbs next year!

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