It’s been a remarkable season for Northwest Junior Pipe Band. The Grade 4 band travelled to Gresham, OR for the Portland Highland Games on July 18th. Soloists won aggregate awards in Grade 4 piping and Grade 4 side drumming, and 1st in Grade 2 Tenor, 1st in Grade 4 side drumming 2/4 March, first in Grade 4 piping 2/4 March, 1st in Grade 4 Piobaireachd, Grade 4 piping 6/8 March, and Grade 2 piping Hornpipe & Jig; 6 first place finishes! In all, 21 top 6 solo placings, with total competitors in the events ranging from 5 to 20.
The nice thing about these games, is that even though it’s usually hot, there’s a breeze in the morning and in the evening. Unfortunately, it always seems to die, just about an hour, maybe two…before the band contests start. The NWJPB youth were fighting the heat, drinking lots of water and gatorade, and doing everything they could to keep their energy and spirits high. When time came for final tuning, they descended the steps to the competition arena and hesitantly stepped onto the red rubberized track, where the temperature probably rose by at least 5 degrees, and several people experienced the red surface melting slightly to their shoes.
Band Director Kevin Auld was very pleased with the tone coming from the pipers as they finished up final tuning, and the band was called to the line. Marching into the competition circle in front of a couple thousand Pipe Band fans in the stadium seats, they played remarkably well, a focused team really hitting a “groove” with the medley. Even those with no experience with pipe band music could tell by the expressions on all of the kids faces that the performance had gone very well. The smiles broke out immediately after the medley finished. Nearly everyone felt this was one of their strongest performancess yet. Four bands competed. Marching out of the competition circle at these games truly gives the band members a sense of what rock stars must feel, as the stands are mostly full, everyone cheering, and the sound projects very well from the grandstand to the track.
After a quick “debrief” and a 10 or 15 minute break, the band began preparing for the next big challenge; the Grade 3 competition. Five bands were competing, and the instructors and students of NWJPB hoped they could pull off another strong performance, back to back. The band took the start line again and played very well again, getting feedback from Kevin Auld that those were two of their best runs all season.
At the end of the day before massed bands, the Portland Games always stages the final “Caber Toss” on the main field in front of the grandstands, which usually causes delays to massed bands, but is an entertaining close to a fun day. The largest cabers and top athletes compete in the event; and only three times were they able to flip the caber the full distance required to score. Finally, massed bands were called and eventually gathered, marching and countermarching across the field. In the final results, NWJPB placed 1st in Grade 4 with two first places from piping, one from ensemble, and 2nd in drumming. The band didn’t get to hear their name called for the Grade 3 results, but did end up 4th of 5 bands in the grade and got a 2nd place from one of the piping judges. A day to be very proud of, holding their own in a higher level competition grade.
The band has now won five straight contests and hopes to continue playing well through the last two “season aggregate” competition opportunities at Enumclaw for the Pacific Northwest Highland Games. If NWJPB can hang on to first place both days, they could win the “Grand Aggregate” for the season, winning the most points overall in Grade 4, for the first time in the band’s relatively short history in this competition grade. A win Saturday would move them into first place, but placing 2nd on Sunday would leave them ranked 2nd for the season. Regardless of the outcome, NWJPB members will leave the season feeling proud of their accomplishments, and making history for the organization on several fronts, including never haven won 5 games in a row in Grade 5, never having an undefeated season going into the Pacific Northwest Highland Games, and never having more than 20 placings in the top 6 at nearly every event all season long.
Follow the band’s progress on Facebook this weekend, July 25th and 26th: http://facebook.com/nwjpb for live updates from the field.
Portland Highland Games solo results for NWJPB members:
- Piping: Grade 4, 2/4 March: Saul 1st, Elliot 4th, Devon 6th
- Piping: Grade 4, 6/8 March: Elliot 1st, Saul 2nd, Devon 5th
- Piping: Grade 4 Piobaireachd: Saul 1st
- Piping: Grade 3: 2/4 March, Aaron 3rd; Jig, Aaron 5th, Strathspey & Reel: Aaron 6th
- Piping: Grade 2: Hornpipe & Jig, Alexander 1st; MSR, Alexander 2nd
- Side Drumming: Grade 4 2/4 March: Bryce 1st, Steven 2nd, Morgan M. 3rd
- Side Drumming: Grade 4 6/8 March: Steven 2nd, Bryce 3rd
- Side Drumming: Grade 3; 2/4 March; Amber 3rd; 6/8 March; Amber 2nd
- Tenor Drumming: Grade 2 2/4 March: Alexander 1st, Ali 6th
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