Some of you will be aware that our Canadian piping and drumming cousins are currently involved in a bit of a brouhaha. On the one side we have a disgruntled judge who believes he has been unfairly treated after alleged transgressions.
On the other we have the governing body, Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario, which believes that, in taking what it saw as the required disciplinary action, it acted as per its rule book.
By the Editor
The matter is now heading for the law courts with the plaintiff seeking half a mill Canadian, yes CA$500,000, in damages. PPBSO directors, each named individually on the charge sheet, have, I am told, prepared a robust defence.
What a shame it has come to this. Ontario took a huge hit during covid. No money coming in, the whole organisation teetering as a result. This year and last saw a resurgence; numbers up, attendances up, enthusiasm up. Just when it is on a roll, another crisis looms large.
You can imagine the amount of online traffic there has been. I have read some of it but gave up after a while when the eyes began clouding over. I have no intention of boring you with the details here.
What I would say to those rushing to judgement is this: wait until you have heard both sides of the argument before you make up your mind or hit the send button. Legal necessity means that many facts have yet to be aired, therefore any opinion given at this stage is, by definition, ill-informed.
And one other point. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. The wonderful province of Ontario has given so much to our music: great bands, great pipers, great judges, great teachers, great composers. The thriving ambition that spawned all of that must continue no matter what the courts decide.
I wonder what Ken Eller would have thought of it all. Grade 1 pipe major, teacher, judge, Ken passed away a few months ago and a Memorial Gathering was held in his honour on October 5. John Recknagel reports:
‘A Celebration of Life for P/M Ken Eller’, was held in St Catharines, Ontario. Ken’s family, friends and band mates gathered to say farewell. Though he had passed on 26 July, this send off took some planning. The programme, set up by Bob Worrall, started with a meet and greet. I ran into a lot of old, familiar faces, people I hadn’t seen in years.
The day was a nostalgic look at the life and times of Ken as a piper, pipe major, teacher and adjudicator, his time with the Clan MacFarlane band to his time with the 78th Frasers, teaching at workshops and summer schools and adjudicating around the world in Canada, US, UK, South Africa, and Australia.
Many of his far flung friends were there at the hotel, and those separated by distance sent in video clips of condolences. They included items from Richard Parkes, Terry Lee, Murray Blair, Terry Tully, Donald MacPhee, Jim Sim, Jamie Troy, Hal Senyk and many more that I can’t seem to remember.
Not only were there videos, but also live tributes from Jim MacGillivray, Bruce Gandy, Michael Grey, Jack Lee and Glenn Brown, with tunes played in his honour as well. The 78th Frasers gave a performance of a medley.
It was a good time to reflect on Ken’s life, and during the service there were photos running on screens of his time as a husband, father, piper, pipe major and judge. I think he embodied all that is good about the piping and pipe band scene.
