Longs Peak Scottish/Irish Highland Festival

Estes Park, Colorado

September 6-7, 2008

This weekend, the band headed to Estes Park for the 32nd Longs Peak Scottish/Irish Highland Festival! Our first event was a parade down the main street that started at 9:30 AM Saturday morning. We were pleased to have a new piper, Troy Reed, in the ranks for his first outing with the band! He did a terrific job and is a good addition to the group.

Over the course of the weekend, we joined in three massed band performances. We enjoy the camaraderie in playing with other pipe bands, and the appreciation of the crowd is always a boost. For one massed band performance, we even got to play alongside the US Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Band. They are excellent musicians and it is always an honor to perform with those serving our country.

Besides participating in the pipe band events, we also had the pleasure of attending the performances of two guest bands: The Niagara Regional Police Pipe Band and The Royal Canadian Legion Highland Mist Pipe Band. It was inspiring to witness the performances of both bands.

The main focus of our weekend in Estes, though, was the Quick March Medley competition on Saturday afternoon. It was our final competition for the year, and turned out to be a good one for us. We were 3rd overall, our best placing for the entire season, but the real highlight was our 1st placing in piping - a great result, which well and truly capped off all the hard work we did through the year. The comments from all of the judges were very positive and encouraging.

Although saddened that the 2008 competition has come to a close so quickly, we look forward to a GREAT competition season next year, where it is planned we will attend and compete at 6 Games!













Written by Kyle Nealy & Dennis Wilson
Photography by Dennis Nealy