On July 28th, the Elgin and District Pipeband welcomed the members of a Scottish bagpiping band of the same name to the Chateauguay Valley.
When most of us type a subject into the Google search bar, we rarely discover an incredible coincidence. Fortunately, that’s the story of how Scotland natives David Mitchell and Kathleen Shanks stumbled upon the Chateauguay Valley’s Elgin and District Pipeband—a bagpiping group named after their own band in their hometown.
For David Mitchell, playing alongside a band of the same name became a checkbox on his bucket list—one that he didn’t have to wait long to fulfill. On July 28th David and Kathleen made the trek to Canada to participate in both the Maxville Highland Games in Ontario, and the Montreal Highland Games. They later travelled to the Chateauguay Valley as special guests of the Elgin and District Pipeband. “The whole thing was amazing,” said Elgin and District Pipeband member Wanda Goundrey of the experience. Over the span of their two week trip to Canada, David and Kathleen were overwhelmed by the generosity of the people around them—especially those within Chateauguay Valley. Sitting in as a guest, Mitchell played at the Elgin Town Hall—he also participated in the outdoor practice at Waller Farms.
As for whether the Chateauguay Valley’s Elgin and District Pipeband plans to make the trek to Scotland? “We’d love to go, maybe in the future,” Wendy says with a smile.
The local Elgin & District Pipeband, which consists of 17 members, has been playing together since 1997. “Well, that’s when we painted the logo on the drum, anyway,” says Goundrey. According to the Elgin native, it takes about seven years to really master the bagpipes (she has been playing since 1967). This probably explains the inexplicable pull of the sound of bagpipes—it is an incredibly nostalgic instrument that renders most audiences speechless. While the Elgin and District Pipeband has kept a fairly busy schedule over the summer, they never fail to draw a crowd. The band even went on to win the honour of Best Overall Entry at the Champlain New York Memorial Day Parade.
If you are looking to sit in on an Elgin and District Pipeband performance, they will be performing at 10:30 AM on August 29th at the Scottish Fling in Burke, New York. The event will be hosted by Almanzo Wilder Homestead. Visit www.almanzowilderfarm.com for more information.
