The Captain's Corner

How many of you will be around at age 90? ... and even if you are, will you be able to entertain yourself with the occasional tune?...have the same energy as a man half your age?.... well, congratulations to Ken Thornton of Creemore, Ontario. He began the pipes at the age of 84 and fulfilled a life long ambition to join the RCMP by parading with them in Ottawa shortly afterwards. We, at the Ontario School of Piping had the privilege of assisting Ken along his journey and now watch with great pride as he celebrates his 90th b-day this weekend. As far as pipers go, Ken is a middle aged youngster... and watch for him celebrating his 100th, only a decade away. Ken Thornton is living proof that age is only a figment of the imagination. Pipers are living longer and sustaining a high level of competence well into their senior years. The Grade 1 scene used to be for the younger set only. In my time, players looked to retirement from the big grade often in their 40's. But now, musical life ...

Rumor has it that Boghall and Bathgate are planning to play 8 tenors in their 2009 corps (bobdunsire.com - Bass Sections Forum - September 30,2008). TyFry must be on cloud nine with the potential for all those new mallet sales! I wonder if TyFry blue will replace TyFry pink... But I digress, there was no better response in the forum than that of Peter Hendrickson, formerly of AlCal and now with SFU. "Just like in all other genres of music... everyone plays the melody... all at the same time, right? Once I played this jazz gig, and it was with a piano player. So, I was like, "how many notes does a piano have?" I brought 88 tom toms to the show and I was able to play everything HE played. It was awesome... and he even told me so afterward! He said, "FINALLY, someone to play with that makes MY role less significant!" I was just trying to use all the skills I learned in music school. What they taught me was to, and I quote, "always play the melody! Rule number...

I was walking the other day down the High Street near Glasgow Green and decided to take a leisurely stroll of discovery through Boot Hill, the local graveyard. In front of my eyes was the Pipe Band Grade 1 section - tombstone after tombstone... a virtual family history of the Grade 1 scene over my 50 years of hangin' around. On my left was the Guelph Pipe Band, interred next to the MacNish Distillery... further down the path was the Clan MacFarlane nestled in beside Bob Hardie's Muirheads and Sons - right in front of the City of Victoria and Hal Senyk's Triumph Street. There was the Red Hackle and DUT, Renfrew and the BCal Airways, Black Bottle and Invergordan Distillery with Toronto and District and the City of Toronto in the newly landscaped Ontario area... and a fresh grave...no tombstone yet, but a freshly painted sign...the Windsor Police. Sad reminders all of past greatness...and what's this on my right? ... a freshly dug hole ... must be a funeral coming by soon....