Kimberley Pipe Band's 90th Year Reunion & Tattoo
Early this Spring while doing my grocery shopping, I bumped into a band member of the Cowichan Pipes and Drums Band, the same band where I had been a fellow member. The band had returned from a successful musical tour of China in the fall of 2016. I asked this member and friend (Derek Crawford) where will the band be going in 2017? He said, "Kimberley, as many pipe bands in BC will be going to celebrate the Kimberley Pipe Band's 90th Anniversary of its founding by playing in a "Tattoo". I told Derek that at the age of 16 in 1943 that I was a piper in that band all during high school and for a couple of Summers when I came home from university. He seemed to be interested. Anyway to make a long story short, a few weeks after, Derek phoned me and invited me to go along with the band to the Tattoo even though I had retired from the Cowichan Band five-years previously.
Well on Wednesday, July 12, 2017, two of my band friends (Derek Crawford and Chuck Robertson) both retired RCMP officers (I was in good hands) picked me up at the Berwick (my new home) and we caught the 12 noon ferry for the mainland. We decided to take Hwy 3, the southern route to Kimberley because we thought the forest fires in the central part of the province may delay our journey with road closures. We even took our passports with us just in case we might even have to drop down into the United States to get to our destination. It was all unnecessary as the fires were all to the north.
After six hours (from picking me up at the Berwick) we arrived at the town of Princeton where we stayed overnight. (We also enjoyed a small party after dinner that night). The next day was an easy drive to Kimberley where we stayed on Hwy 3 until Cranbrook and then drove the short distance on Hwy 95 to Kimberley arriving there in the middle to late afternoon.
We were billeted in ski chalet condos on the North Star Mountain Ski Hill. These were super nice chalets, our chalet had two bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen and large living room. The place was fully equipped even with "Satellite TV". All this was supplied "gratis" by the organizers of the Tattoo.
Kimberley is the highest city in Canada and we were billeted up on the North Star Mountain which is higher than the actual city, I had difficulty breathing as the air was a bit thin. I experienced the same problem in Banff the year before. (Old age sure keeps telling you that your not as young as you used to be. "Enjoy your youth while you can", I say.) The Town of Kimberley has changed since I lived there in 1965-66. The town had switched from being a mining town (The Sullivan Mine closed in 2002) to a Bavarian motif type village and now to a tourist town offering skiing, mountain climbing, golfing (there are more golf courses (3) than there are traffic lights) mountain biking and other out-door activities. Many of the downtown area streets have been closed off where they have been turned into pedestrian ways with benches, gardens, streams and wading pools for children. The town has more eating places per capita than any town or city in Canada. While at the Tattoo, I met the Don McCormick the Mayor of Kimberley who told me when asked what other than the tourist industry keeps Kimberley going. He said that Kimberley has drawn a number of young people who work in Cranbrook but like the recreational facilities here as well as the less expensive housing. He also mentioned the unique feature in Kimberley, the "Sun Mine".
The Sun Mine is a 4000 unit solar panel installation that is built on the dump and tailings area of the old Sullivan Mine. This installation generates 1.05 mega watts of power which is sold to BC hydro. Each cluster of panels is mounted on a pedestal that has the technology to track the sun so that the panels are oriented to the sun in order to maximize the output. It is said that this peddle installation will produce 40% more wattage than the fixed frame installation. Apparently there is enough room for 800,000 units which could generate 200 megawatts.
Getting back to the Tattoo, the Tattoo itself was on Saturday night but there were preliminary concerts and parades prior to that. For instance, on Thursday evening (the day we arrived) Pipe-Major Dr Gordon Pollack called a band practise. The next day Friday, the band put on a performance at the "Platzl" one of the streets that was converted into pedestrians only. That same afternoon, all the bands had to form-up at the Civic Centre for a rehearsal of the Tattoo. Finally on Saturday, there was the Grand Parade where all eleven bands and other marchers paraded through the main business section on down to the lower part of town where the Civic Centre is located.
All was not finished yet. There was a final rehearsal (this time) a dress rehearsal at the Civic Centre in the afternoon. After a quick dinner, the Tattoo stared at 7 pm Saturday Evening. After the opening ceremonies and the playing of "Oh Canada" each band was given a slot in the programme where it would "strut-it's-stuff". The Cowichan Pipes and Drums Band was scheduled to perform at 7:50 pm for 15 minutes, and not to be prejudice, their performance was outstanding especially playing "Highland Cathedral and The Lion Sleeps Tonight" accompanied with guitars, keyboards and concert drums. The crowd in attendance was taken by surprise and then cheered loudly. The performance of the band was first-class and the crowd enjoyed it immensely for they had never seen or heard of the blending of pipes with concert instruments. The Cowichan Pipes and Drums was without a doubt the superior band there: in size, performance, deportment, sound and marching. It was the only band with a drum-major which (in my mind) makes a difference.
The Tattoo ended with the singing of "God Save the Queen" and with the solo piper playing "Amazing Grace" joined in by the massed bands. After this, was the march off of the bands.
Kimberley must be congratulated for the way they organized this tattoo. Each band or group was given a contact person or persons to whom they could call should the group have a problem. The Cowichan band had John and Judy Boucher who bent over backwards (so to speak) to settle any matter. In my case, they even were able to obtain (for me) tickets to the tattoo when the affair was sold out. To say the least, the whole two-day affaire ran like clockwork as there were no delays as everything (including the pancake breakfasts, the noon lunches, the dinners at night, the parade and tattoo) all ran on time. They had a good organization.
After a successful Friday and Saturday, we (Derek, Chuck and I) drove home via the Trans Canada and caught the 8 pm ferry to Vancouver Island and reached home (Berwick) by 10pm. It was a great weekend, I wouldn't have missed it in the world.
Dave McKay
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