History
Founded in 1948 as the Caledonian Pipe Band under the direction of P/M James
Sheiel and D/Sgt. Fred Sangster, the band was dedicated to a high standard of
play and competed successfully at many Highland Games from inception. In 1958
under P/M Jack Thompson and in 1959 under P/M Noel
Slagle the band won 1st prize at the Hamilton, Ontario Games.
During the mid '60's - '70's the band did not compete, but performed at regional
festivals and parades and hosted its annual Tartan Ball which, at the time, was
the largest Scottish social event of the year. In 1978 under P/M Bob Sloan the
band re-entered the contest arena and won the Grade
IV contest at the inaugural Ohio Scottish Games. In 1984 under the direction of
P/M John Campbell, the band won the Grade IV Pipers and Pipe Band Society of
Ontario Champion Supreme and the North American Championship.
In 1985 the name was changed to the North Coast Pipe Band as a better reflection
of the region we represented when traveling nationally and internationally.
Under the direction of P/M Doug Ross, the band won many regional, national, and
international championships. Some of those included a 7th place finish in the
Grade 3, 1987 World Pipe Band Championships, Best Overseas Band Grade II, 1989
World Championships; first US Grade II Pipe Band to place at the World Pipe Band
Championships, 1990(the band finished 6th); West Coast California Champions,
1991, Tour
of Ireland in 1992.
In 1996, the Band came under the new direction of P/M Barry Conway and P/S
Bentley Wall.. It was at this time that the Band began an intensive teaching
program. The Band had immediate success. The band won the 1996 Grade 3 North
American Championships as well as the West Coast
Championships. It was in that same year the Band released its first CD, "Pipes
UP". This was the first recording released by any pipe band in this
region.
In 1997, the band ventured to the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland
taking a 4th place. In 1998, the Band won the Canadian Championships as well as
the Pipers and Pipe Band Society Champion Supreme Award for grade 3 and
performed at the Society's annual ball held in Toronto. In this same year, the
efforts of the bands teaching program were realized when our Grade 4 Band won
the U.S. Open Piping Championship held in Alma, MI.
In 1999, the Band re-entered Grade 2 placing at both the U.S. Open Piping
Championships as well as placing 5th at the North American Championships in Maxville.
This year the Band released its second CD, "The New Crossroads".
In 2000, the band placed 2nd at many Highland games and placed 4th in Maxville, one place higher than in 1999.
In 2001, the band captured a 1st and a 2nd place at Alma (out of four bands), a first at Oberlin (out of three bands), and a 3rd at Ft. Erie (out of seven bands). The band went to Maxville, and slipped back two places to 6th. The band returned overseas to play in the Grade II World Championships, performed well and received high marks in the piping scores (8th, 9th) out of 33 bands, for a final overall rank of 13th. The band will head overseas again in 2003.
Also in 2001, the Band released a minidisc, "The Dirty Laugh". This minidisc contains original music by members of the band, and contains the sheet music for the tunes in printable form.
Following the conclusion of the 2001 season, new talent came into the program for the 2002 season. The band elected Adrian Melvin as the new Pipe Major and promoted the second snare to lead snare. New officers were elected and new members joined the band in the pipe, snare and tenor/bass sections of the band. The organization benefitted greatly from these changes and enjoyed a rewarding 2002 season, placing 4th at Maxville out of 18 bands (two places higher than in 2001), and placed 3rd out of 10 bands at Ft. Erie, Chatham and Bethlehem.
2003: In the post season of 2002, in the wake of the well-liked pipe major's exit from the program, the strong administrative arm of the program rallied to continue the band's long-standing pursuit of excellence. The band elected Bentley Wall, long-time Pipe Sergeant of the band, to take over as Pipe Major for 2003. In addition, a highly experienced lead drummer, Chris Barr (Detroit) was brought into the band to rebuild the drum section at an extremely high level. Following the election of these two primary officers of the band, there was a large influx of high caliber players into both major sections of the band. With new direction and energy, the band enjoyed many successes in 2003. The band placed first at Alma winning the US Championship, placed first at Ft. Erie, Onatrio, winning the Canadian Championship, placed first at Chatham, Ontario, and inched up another two spots from 2002 to place 2nd at the North American Championships in Maxville, Ontario. The band placed 7th out of 35 bands in Glasgow, and placed first at the US Invitational Championship in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Overall, the NCPB placed first in the Champion Supreme points race in the PPBSO, but not being a member of that society was not awarded the Champion Supreme title for 2003. However, the NCPB also finished first in the MWPBA, the society to which we belong, and thus were officially recognized as the Champion Supreme title winners for 2003 in Grade II. members feel this was possibly the most successful year of the program's history, and energy was high to move up another notch in 2004.
2004: The band went around the sun again with a strengthened mid section with the addition of Mike Cole, Bill Janakos and Dan Griffin, former Grade II World Champions and a strengthened pipe section having high caliber players Ross Speirs and Tom Ogilvy join the ranks. The band also employed the support of Sean McKeown, PS of Grade I Toronto Police, as a pipe section instructor for the first time. In April, another windfall came our way. Another local Grade II program folded up, and many of its members asked to join up with us, many of them former members of the band. We welcomed Barry Conway, Clark Abercrombie, Doug Ross, Jason Beard, Ian Crane, Nathan Zeigler and Anne Hutson(tenor) to the band. In addition to the high caliber pipers joining the ranks, several high power snare drummers joined up in April as well, Al Savage, Richard Baughman (former NCPB), and Glen Neil. It seems that the program never had more talented personnel before. The band split the Alma weekend again with Windsor Police like in 2003, but won at Chatham and won Maxville! The band was very excited about attaining this long sought-after goal. The band had some trouble overseas and did not make it out of the Grade II qualifier. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts with some of our key personnel, the Grade II band decided to take the 2005 season off. Perhaps the Phoenix will rise again in 2006, perhaps not, but the Grade III student band will continue its current activity and looks forward to another exciting season.
2005: The Grade III student band strengthened over the winter with the influx of a few new members. The band added a registered snare instructor to the ranks for the first time. The year went fairly well, even though encompassing so many newer members was difficult at first.
2006: The Grade III student band lost some members due to the usual reasons of busy lives and changing interests. The band carried on and did its best under the circumstances. Many personally rewarding performances were achieved, although we were a bit understaffed for the grade to be competitive.
2007: The band decided that without enough Grade III seasoned players to be competitive for 2007, that going through the motions again would be frustrating. It was decided to concentrate efforts on our existing educational programs and to divert all resources to that aim, and to take the year off of competition. Student classes began in November 2006, and many young learners are now taking instructional classes from our sectgion leaders and support staff in Beginner Bagpipe, Beginner Snare, and Beginner Midsection. It is hoped that there will be enough new students generated by these classes to think about reforming a competition effort in the Fall of 2007, to hit the field again in 2008. If you are interested in taking lessons in bagpiping or snare drumming in a youth class, please give us a call. Even though classes have already started, we can offer free one on one instruction to help anyone catch up until they are ready to join the class. See our main web page, Contacts link for info on how to get ahold of someone.