MARCH - 2018 PAGE 1 SURF LIFE SAVING CHAMPIONSHIPS - BLACKSMITHS BEACH - 2018 MEREWETHER BATHS - MACKERELS OPENING 2017
MARCH - 2018 Page 2. FROM PIPE BANDS AUSTRALIA THE BIENNUAL AUSTRALIAN PIPE BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS - 2018 JUDGES Piping Richard Hawke, Joe Joyce Piping Greg Wilson, Tom McGirr Drumming Peter Rowland Drumming J. Reid Maxwell Ensemble Nat Russell GC OAM Ensemble Rob Bennett Dress & Drill Chris Earl Dress & Drill Brian May Three nations in draw for championships Bands from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia will contest the biennial Australian championships being held at Brisbane Boys' College on Saturday 7 April. St George's Girls' School from Malaysia will compete in the Grade 4 and juvenile championships while Auckland Police and Foundation New Zealand Youth have entered in Grade 3. The official draw has been released tonight and includes: Grade 2 - four bands, Grade 3-9, Grade 4-16, Juvenile - 10. Hosted by the Queensland branch of Pipe Bands Australia, fours will participate in a non-championship selection of marches event. Strong entries have also been received for the juvenile and senior drum major championships. Competition at this year's championships will commence at 9am and conclude with massed bands and presentations, including banners to the champion bands, at approximately 4.30pm. NOTE: A livestream to the world will again be provided of the championships through pipebanned.com
MARCH - 2018 Page 3. GEOFFREY ENGEL - FORMER SIDE DRUMMER 1974 TO 1994 Recently, I was so very pleased to be able to catch up with a former long term member of my Drum Corps from days gone by, that I had not seen for decades. Geoffrey Engel was a Snare Drummer with The City Band during the 20 year period - 1974 to 1994. I might add - that over the many years - I taught drumming to so very many people - and a catching up like this does not happen very often. Geoff who had set his sights on and indeed succeeded in completing his degree at Newcastle University in Computer Engineering (Design) moved to Sydney for his employment and then to the US where he now resides on a long term basis. Geoff and his lovely Wife Emma (who we had not met ) were back in Newcastle to visit his parents Margaret and Brian. He made time and a special effort to "catch up" with both Fay and I, during his few days "at home" where it was so great to "touch base" with them both, to talk over old times and check out Geoff's exciting projects and their life and work in the United States. Indeed - it was a most enjoyable get together. THE AUSTRALIAN PIPE BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS - BRISBANE 7 APRIL 2018. You will find information in other areas of this PBNE, concerning the above mentioned Championships. This information is provided to confirm and assist you in tapping into the LIVE STREAM site shown below The recent Street March @ the New Zealand Pipe Band Championships in Rotorua was covered and can also be found by searching that site. Youtube coverage of the Grade 1 and 2 NZ contest is shown in the Website Bulletin provided with this PBNE. http://brassbanned.com/
DECEMBER - 2016 Page 4. FEBRUARY - 2018 Page 4.
FEBRUARY - 2018 Page 5. RON S BLOG - THE ANZAC DAY SPECIAL. This coming Anzac Day, 25 April 2018 will see another anniversary of the first parade with this Band by the writer of this Blog. Wow, that will be 76 years ago and hasn t a lot of water gone under the bridge over those years. By the time I hung up my drum RON 1942 I used to say that I had attended more Anzac Parades than most Anzacs. You know - not only was it a significant day for me and continued to be so for my entire playing period, but it has also been for the Band. Maybe this was also due to what appeared to have been some affinity with the armed forces. RETIRED I can remember - a number of early players were servicemen, notably, one of those was captured by the Japanese and served time as POW in Changi - Singapore. That was Jim Webster, who of course went on to be a long term and well known and respected Pipe Major of our Band. Request for attendance at Anzac Ceremonies all over the place has always been something that has been sought by Ex Service Associations. Finally, there was that initial thought of wearing the Gordon Tartan by the founders of this Band that worn by the famous Scottish Regiment The Gordon Highlanders great warriors indeed. So - as you prepare for the coming Anzac Day Ceremonies cleaning and completing maintenance issues etc; continue to wear the Gordon Tartan and remember that with membership of such a wonderful unit, you are performing a wonderful service to our City and maintaining a heritage and tradition you can really be proud. Have a great day and if you can spare a moment give me a thought. Of course - as I always conclude I provide this information for those who might be interested. Ron C. Ferrier Ron C. Ferrier, OAM, Editor Bydand / Website, Life Member / Past President and D/Sgt CITY OF NEWCASTLE RSL PIPE BAND Inc.
MARCH - 2018 Page 6. Scots School Bathurst Highland Gathering 2018 Auckland Police Pipe Band NZ ( Competing at the 2018 Aust Champs )