April 3rd, 2011
SALPD 10 Year Medal
Wow I can’t believe it’s been four months since our last post. It’s also been two years since our last awards presentaion. We’ll fix both of those issues right now. This evening SALPD held our awards dinner at the Innsbrook location of our sponsor Capital Ale House. The evening had the band dressed to the nines with everyone in their best. Be it Officer Mess, Prince Charlies or Doublets everyone looked great. The food and service was great as was the company. At events we always find time to hang out but we always know there is a performance right around the corner. With events like this everyone is relaxed and having a good time. With VCU in the Final Four there was lots of score checking going on from everyone in band to the wait staff.
I’ll have a full list of all the people who were awarded medals later but the awards from the evening included general service, meritorious service, cross and thistle and the new SALPD 10 year medal. That’s right SALPD will be 10 years this coming August and in honor of that fact we introduced the 10 Year medal pictured in this blog. There was also the presentation of a special award to our Drum Major Don Milligan. Don has been fighting some health issues the past 3-4 months and it was great to see him out and about this evening. All in all everyone had a great time.
We’ve had so much happen in four months from new members, to new practice schedules, to new tunes. The posts will come more frequently and get everyone caught up on the happenings and keep you abreast of the current goings on. In the mean time congrats once again to all the folks who received awards tonight. We hope to see you all at our up coming events. Take care and we’ll see you out there.
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Posted by From Dark Water
June 24th, 2010
One of the joys/privileges/honors of being a bagpiper is that you are often asked to be a part of the most intimate part of people’s lives. Be it playing at a wedding where the mood is upbeat and joyful or playing for a funeral where things are more solemn and mournful, pipers are often the soundtrack to that event and more often than not one of the things people tend to remember about the event. There are other events such as church services, memorials, birthday parties and such but weddings and funerals seem to be the biggies.
There have been instances where the entire band has played both weddings and funerals others where a single piper has been requested. In either case as members of SALPD we try to provide the proper look and tone from the band members in attendance. It has been said by certain crusty old Pipe Majors (and even crustier Drum Majors) that the pipes do two things remarkable well mourn the dead and rouse to battle. (That said I’ll let you draw your own references as to their place at weddings) As stated before it really is a privilege and honor to perform at these events and we want you and your guests to remember the piper/s for the right reasons not the wrong ones.
Pipe Major MacLeod recently piped at a funeral and the band was sent this email:
Tim…
We didn’t have a chance to talk at my brother’s funeral, but it should not be left unsaid that your part was as dramatic, excellently presented, and respectful as it was hoped to be. Thank you for being on time, for taking our request on such short notice, and for doing a job worthy of the man we honored.
Ed attempted to learn the bagpipes and he always had a fascination with all things Celtic. In his 30′s and 40′s, Ed was a large, robust man and once sported a big, bushy red beard. As we pulled up to the grave site, my wife remarked how much you looked like Ed at that point in his life. It was serendipitous how seeing you completed the whole image. Ed had requested a piper at his funeral once we learned that his cancer was going to be terminal. You fulfilled his request in grand style. It could not have been better.
Thank you.
Pat Robson
Ed’s big brother
Our condolences go out to Pat and the entire Robson family. No matter what the event or when it is please feel free to contact us for all your piping needs. You can book the band with the previous link. Thanks for all your support and we’ll see you all soon.
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Posted by From Dark Water
March 17th, 2009
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Wanted to take a quick second and wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We’ll be playing at Capital Ale House in both Innsbrook and Midloathian. Time could vary but we are scheduled for 6, 8 and 10. In case you missed it some of the folks from the band were on Virginia This Morning yesterday promoting the event and they interviewed Tim as well. Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out Virginia This Morning (You may have to scroll down some to see it.)
After tonight it’s on to one of everyone’s favorite events the Irish Festival . This is always a fun event. After that our next big event is Celtic Cans. I’ll explain more on this in a later post but it’s a food drive in the parking lot of Rare Olde Times that will involve Celtic groups, musicians, and dancers from all over central VA to help the Central Virginia Food Bank so stay tuned. Please check the St. Andrew’s Legion web site for more upcoming events. Thank you all for your support and we hope to see you out and about “Raising your Irish”
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Posted by From Dark Water
