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www.celtic-connection.com
SEPTEMBER 2002
MEMORIAL TO PIPERS OF FIRST WORLD WAR
During the course of the First World War, 1,000 British Army pipers lost their lives, many on the front line as they raised the spirits of their comrades by playing rousing tunes in the thick of the battles. On many occasions it was the piper who led the attack across no-man's-land towards the enemy lines. In the first two years of the war, the Gordon Highlanders lost nearly 30 pipers and many more were wounded. Now, 84 years after the guns fell silent, and as a result of the efforts of French and British veterans, a memorial has been created in the region of the Somme battlefields to pipers.
EXPLORING B.C.'S SCOTTISH HERITAGE
WORLD PIPE BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
More than 45 countries were represented in The World Pipe Band Championships that took place on Glasgow Green on August 10. This is the most prestigious event in the annual piping calendar, attracting over 200 bands from around the world. It has become something of an institution - pipe bands have been competing in Glasgow every year since 1947, attracting audiences in excess of 30,000 people.
Once all the competitors performed their pieces, they marched past the chieftain, Lord Provost Alex Mosson. It is quite a spectacle to witness 6,000 to 7,000 pipers playing together.
The largest contingent of overseas competitors came from Canada -last year's winners - but there were contestants also from the United States, South Africa and New Zealand, along with entries from Tokyo and the Sultanate of Oman. For the first time in recent years the Championships had fine, sunny weather - although that created its —,--------
own problems for the hard-working pipers and drummers. Full re- Re fa g conference events, such suits of the Championships are available at www.piperand ag & two.da arcnival road show, drummer.com. September 13-14, will inspire
VANCOUVER - Scholars at Simon Fraser University hope their third annual conference will alleviate the dearth of research on how Scottish immigrants helped shape B.C. and how their experiences here molded their cultural identity.
"Scots are reputed to have played a huge role in Vancouver and elsewhere in the province during the early part of the Twentieth Century, particularly in labour, education and business. Yet, hardly anyone is studying Scots in B.C.," laments SFU historian Jack Little.
The expert on highland immigration to Quebec chairs this year's conference, Scots Heritage in British Columbia and the West, hosted by SFU's centre for Scottish Studies, September 12-14, Harbour Centre campus.
The conference will bring town and gown together to present papers on the impact of Scots in the Pacific Northwest and the Prairies. "Many of the presenters are well-known writers and so-called history buffs, not academics," says Little.
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more academic research. The public is invited to bring in archival material pertaining to Scottish heritage, such as letters, books, papers and artwork.
Archivists, librarians and museum curators from Scotland and B.C will assess their heritage value. "It's often the discovery of good archival material that inspires new research in history, not the search for a solution to a particular problem," notes Little.
One of Little's colleagues and a presenter at the conference, SFU geography professor Paul Koroscil, agrees. The discovery of a 1917 New Year's greeting card created by James Cameron Dun Waters led Koroscil to research the impact of wealthy Scottish immigrants, such as Dun Waters,
on the Okanagan. Scottish immigrants were largely responsible for the conversion of Okanagan cattle ranches into orchards.
Koroscil's conference presentation will detail his efforts to save B.C.'s only remaining octagonal barn and fruit packing house on Okanagan Lake. The buildings were part of Dun Waters' estate in Fintry, B.C., a farming town he named after his Scottish hometown. The estate is now a provincial park.
Among other conference presenters is famous historian James Hunter of Scotland's Highland University. He authored a book on Scottish natives in Canada. For further conference information see www.sfu.ca/scottish/confer-ence .htm or call (604) 291-3689.
SFU Pipe Band Place Second in the World
VANCOUVER - The 2002 World Championships held in Glasgow, Scotland were very successful for the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band organization. As 2001 world champions, the SFU Pipe Band set out to try and defend their world title.
The band played extremely well but the Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band from Northern Ireland played a little better. When the points were tallied Field Marshall Montgomery won the world championships with Simon Fraser University finishing a close second. The SFU pipe band was not disappointed because they had played very well and the judging seemed very fair. In the last 15 years, SFU has won four firsts and five seconds at the championships.
A big thrill was the outstanding second place finish for the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band in the grade two class. The highly competitive grade two class is a difficult place to earn a prize. Finishing second in their first ever trip to Scotland was really an outstanding accomplishment. Nearly half of the members in the grade two RMM are graduates from the famous juvenile band of the same name.
Italian Picks up Celtic Challenge
BURNABY - When The Old Scottish Larder closed down in Burnaby Heights, they left behind a pretty big kilt to fill. But the newest butcher on the Heights says he's up for the Celtic challenge. Just before Christmas, Mario Intile opened Mario's Quality Meats on Hastings between Gilmore and McDonald (The Old Scottish Larder location).
The Old Scottish Larder was a mainstay for the Heights for well over a decade. When Mario first opened Mario's Quality Meats for business, the requests he was getting weren't exactly what he was expecting.
"Haggis? Black pudding? I don't know how to make this stuff," Mario said. "Lucky for me, I had some of the old shop staff to teach me."
Mario has an outstanding background in butchery and prides himself on his constant thirst for knowledge - "the more you learn, the better off your customers will be," he said.
Since 1975, Mario has worked in various butcher shops, including SuperValu and Safeway, and at the latter he became known as "the poster boy of freshness - literally." He said, "I guess I built a reputation as having the freshest cuts around, so Safeway put me on this big giant poster that went all over the place," he laughed pointing to the evidence.
A copy of the poster was a gift from his mom who had stashed it away until the day her son would open his own shop. That day almost never came had it not been for a chance trip down Hastings where Mario spotted a "for lease" sign in a window.
Today, he is part of the growing Heights community and he said, "so far the neighbourhood reception has been very positive".
Mario's Quality Meats is located at 4022 East Hastings Street. For information, call (604) 299-8591, or check out their web at: www. mariosqual i tymeats .com.