Months of late nights on the practice chanters, hours upon hours of practice, building and believing went into the MacMillan Pipe Band’s victory at the North American Pipe Band Championships in Maxville, Ontario, Canda on August 1st of this year.

MacMillan won the championship with first and second in piping, first in ensemble and second in drumming from judges Charlie MacDonald, John Elliot, Michael Gray and Hugh Cameron, playing for only the second time competitively Highland Wedding. Both Andrew Donlon and Alex Kuldell were ecstatic with the result, which demonstrated not only the improvement of the band, but also how well the new partership at the helm is both beneficial and largely effective. In addition to the changes the band has experienced over the past 18 months in leadership, they played new chanters and reeds. Many thanks go out to McCallum Bagpipes and G1 Reedmakers for the quality products we have enjoyed and plan to use in the future!

Thanks are also in order for all of the families of the members who have spent many nights and weekends away in addition to the hours of practice at home. Thank you! A very special shout out goes to  drone tuners, Dan Bell and Monica McClamrock, who did a great job getting the band on the field and assisting with overall sound.

Without all of our support from family members, members of the other MacMillan bands, and everyone else, the thrill of marching off the field at Maxville as North American Championships. Most definitely the memory of a lifetime.

With the North American Championships in the bag, MacMilllan went on August 2nd to the Montreal Highland Games in Quebec, and won with a first and second in piping, first in ensemble and first in drumming from judges John Wilson, Brian Williamson, Bob Worrall and Brendan Kelly, respectively. The comments from all were positive, but it was an honor to get such complimentary notes from judges as experienced as John Wilson and Bob Worrall, both of whom have judged the Grade One Finals at the World Pipe Band Championships.
All in all MacMillan was thrilled to make the trip of a lifetime up to the Great White North. With this competition in the books, the band is going to continue looking forward.

From Michael Gray’s ensemeble sheet from Maxville:

“Time for G2.”