Strong 2nd Place Finish at Gatlinburg Games
The band really stepped it up a notch from the Loch Norman games and we had a very good 2nd place finish (Gr. 5) at the Gatlinburg (TN) Scottish Festival & Games, Saturday, May 15. We were very pleased with our performance. Led by P/M Brad Beaton and Drum Sergeant J.J. Hayden we played our competition set of P/M Robert Martin, Flett from Flotta and finished strong with Jimmy Finlander. Congrats to the Ian Sturrock Memorial Band from Alabama for their 1st place finish.
For the first time we had three snare drummers that made for a nice crisp sound along with the bass drum. As they say one step at a time. The drum corps of course supported our five excellent pipers.
The venue at Gatlinburg is small and the setting is just beautiful with some fantastic views of the Smoky Mountains. Unfortunately the games folks did not come through with a tent for us but we did even better – we cornered a well covered pavilion that later came in extremely handy. We had our “own” bathrooms, picnic tables and benches and most important close by parking. Plus, and a BIG plus, we were able to tune the pipes and drums and rehearse without interference of the other bands! Of course, there’s always a little downside – we had to walk a little further to the parade and competition field.
It was a very hot and humid day with temps in the mid-80’s with a slight breeze. Beautiful but hot. Thunderstorms were predicted for the afternoon and they were correct but they waited until after the band competitions. As we had a late competition time we were very blessed that the torrential rains held off. Sadly massed bands was cancelled due to the heavy rain and thunder and lightning. The awards presentation was held in the band registration tent – rather anticlimactic.
The Greenville (SC) Scottish Games will be held Memorial Weekend and we are extremely excited about competing plus participating in the Friday evening parade in downtown Greenville. It is also going to be a memorable event as HRH Prince Edward (Queen Elizabeth’s son) will be in attendance. Look out Greenville!