It’s been more than two decades since Moose Jaw had a pipe band, but a local bagpiper wants to create a new youth-focused group to continue that musical tradition.
Michelle Carline, a community piper, former Sprigs O’ Heather Pipe Band member and recently retired teacher, is spearheading the initiative to create a group for kids aged eight to 12 interested in learning to play bagpipes or drums.
The open house occurs Tuesday, Sept. 12, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the library at École Palliser Heights School at 1140 Simpson Avenue. The event is free, and youths who attend can listen and talk to other young members of the Conservancy of Regina Pipe Band. They can also try instruments under the guidance of experienced instructors.
Youths don’t need to be Scottish to attend or learn to play.
Carline, 54, has played the bagpipes for 46 years after becoming hooked on the instrument at age eight. Her next-door neighbour played in the Sprigs O’ Heather and practised regularly, while the militia that her father led had a pipe band that paraded down her street after participating in the band festival’s big parade.
“And I loved the bagpipes. I said, ‘I have to do this … ,’” she said. “So, it’s kind of just an instant love; I just love the sound.”
Carline currently performs with the Conservancy of Regina Pipe Band. She also played with several bands when she lived in Scotland and Alberta.
Joining the Sprigs O’ Heather as a youth was the best decision ever, she said. She still has friends from that band, while the experiences have taken her to many places.
“I feel it’s time for me to give back. I’d love to give back to the kids in Moose Jaw and have a pipe band in Moose Jaw,” she remarked.
Every youth will begin using practice gear to build the necessary skills, while they will start using real instruments after a year.
The long-term goal would be to take beginner kids and develop a lifelong love of music, friends and fellowship while encouraging them to keep playing so they can enter festivals and compete against others while keeping the piping culture alive, the bagpiper added.
Moose Jaw has a long history of pipe bands, and over the past century, there has been the 46th Battalion Pipes and Drums, the St. Andrew’s Society Boys Pipe Band, The White Hackle and the Sprigs O’ Heather.
To honour that history, Carline plans to call the new group the White Heather, which combines the names of The White Hackle and the Sprigs O’ Heather. Interestingly, “white heather” is a plant that grows in Scotland and symbolizes luck.
“So I thought, you can’t go wrong,” she laughed.
Carline noted that the Sprigs folded in the 1980s, while The White Hackle folded in the 1990s after director Jim McWilliams left the group — it was tough to replace him — and the community. An attempt was made to revive the group, but it was unsuccessful.
The bagpiper has lined up several people to help her with this new initiative. She has recruited “really big asset” and fellow bagpiper Angus MacIntosh, a teacher from Prairie South School Division and someone with whom she played in high school band in the 1980s.
Further, Kenna Whelan — a Holy Trinity Catholic School Division teacher and former member of The White Hackle group — plays tenor drum and will instruct on that instrument. Moreover, her daughter, Bryde, will teach for a month — she recently had her second child — how to play the snare drum.
Also, snare drummer Vaughan Robinson is returning from Ontario and will instruct on that instrument.
For more information, contact Michelle Carline at mcarline@hotmail.com.
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