TAURANGA HIGHLAND PIPE BAND

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 14859, 22 December 1948, Page 2

TAURANGA HIGHLAND PIPE BAND

ENGAGEMENTS FOR SUMMER

Presence At Forthcoming Contests

Dominion Championships At New Plymouth

With the advent of the summer and the holiday season, the Tau ranga Highland Pipe Band is preparing to carry out its usual large number of engagements. On Christmas Eve, together with the Municipal Band, the unit will parade the town to assist the retailers in their efforts to provide entertainment for tiie young people of the district The band has, for some years' played in the town on Christmas Eve, but this year’s larger scale entertainment will better fill a need in this direction.

On New Year’s Eve, the band will hold its customary dance in Hayman’s Hall, and dancing will b° from 8 n.m. till 2 a.m. The New Year will be ushered-in in tlv* Scottish tradition at mid-night. The first parade in the New Year will be at a South Auckland Pipe Bands’ Contest at Mount Maunganui on Monday, January 3, when six or seven bands from the Bay of Plenty will be competing. On Exhibition Only

The Tauranga Band, however, has offered to parade on exhibition onlyin order to encourage the weaker bands to compete among themselves. If present intentions materialise, the band will, however, be eligible’ for consideration in the award of a trophy for the best band on the field. Owing to the Christmas there will be one or two changes in the personnel of the band, and PipeMajor L. G. Johnson will be deputising for Drum-Major J. M. Crocker on this occasion.

On January 15, the band will be parading at the Tauranga Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s Show on the racecourse, and the following day the members will be holding a picnic in conjunction with the Matamata Band at the Okauia Springs. The Opotiki Caledonian Society has endeavoured to arrange for the band to visit Opotiki for the week-end on January 22 and 23, but owing to the very full programme, this may have to be postponed until later in the summer.

On February 19, the Tauranga Marching Association is holding the Tauranga championships on the Domain, and the band will be supplying music and items on this day also. On March 5, the South Auckland Centre of the Pipe Bands’ Association is holding another contest, this time at Rotorua, and once again the Tauranga Band will be parading on exhibition only, it being considered unfair for this experienced unit 10 compete against junior bands until they haye had more competition- among themselves. The officers of the band however, are making every effort to arrange for the band to compete against the Hamilton Caledonian Society’s Pipe band on this occasion. This band has been the New Zealand Champion A grade band for the last two years, and the members of the Tauranga Band feel that competition against such a combination would be the best experience they could obtain. Forty : two Bands to Compete In March, the band will travel to New Plymouth for the New Zealand championships which will be held on Pukekura Park on March 18. 19 and 20. Serious practice for this event commences at the end of January. ' .

Present indications are that approximately 42 bands will be entering for the New Zealand championships, and. of these, 29. including the Tauranga Band, will be B grade bands. Final entries may preclude some bands, but the actual entry is exnected to he a record for anv Dominion contest.

It is interesting to note that there are 9G Pipe Bands in New Zealand, and that 12 of these .are affiliated with the South Auckland Centro. They are:—Cambridge, Hamilton, Matamata, Morrinsville, Ngaruawahia. Opotiki, Otomhanga, Rot nrua. Taumarunui, Tauranga, Te Aroha and Whakatane.