Around the Hall

Have you noticed how good the hall looks inside and out? A cleaning party was held in August to wash the siding. We were able to finish just before a downpour. Is it wrong to mix power washers and lightning? We were also able to clear a lot of brush, weeds and tree branches at the cleaning party. Trees and lightning? Three or four truckloads of brush were taken to the yard waste depot. Thank you to the members who came out to help. (The turn out wasn't that good) A special thank you to John Lyons. John is one of our learners and is already showing us what an asset he will be to our band. Thank you to Ross C. for cutting the grass around the hall again this summer.
The sign on our building was replaced this fall. When the siding was cleaned it made the sign look even shabbier. The layout is the same as the original that Stew Thurtell purchased for the band but it is now vinyl. This should be maintenance free for a long time.
The drill hall floor has been re-refinished. The old (?) finish has been stripped off and a more durable product has been applied. The new floor seems to be wearing a lot better. To help it last for a long time please make sure you wipe the sand, salt and water off your feet before you enter the hall. When you move tables and chairs please make sure you do not drag them. Gail put new protectors on all the table legs but they will still mark up the floor if they are dragged. If you have trouble remembering this, just think of Bob Collins saying, “Pick that up” and giving “the look”. It works for me!!!
New carpet has been installed in the boardroom. Please refer to the above for how to take care of the carpet. While all the furniture was out, Gail was able to fill in some holes and put baseboards on the wall behind the wall unit. This should make it warmer on our feet. It is hard to concentrate on playing your chanter when your feet are cold. That's my excuse anyway.
The kitchen and bathroom floors were stripped and waxed this summer so they would look as good as the rest of the floors. Everything sparkles!!!

Membership

It was good to see Iain out to practice this summer. We were happy to present him with his 50-year pin and a gift to celebrate this milestone. Iain was too ill to attend the Christmas Banquet were we would have done the presentation, so it was nice to have the opportunity to do it at practice.
Our best wishes go out to Ross Dunn. Ross has been fighting some health issues for the last few months. It has been good to see him out and around lately.
Jim Muterer has also has some health problems lately. After being away from practice for about a month it was good to have him back with his words of wisdom.

We would like to welcome some new members. George and Eleanor Duncan joined us in July. George and Eleanor played with the Hailibury Pipe Band before George's job brought him to this area. We are glad to have them playing with us. Dustin Douglas has been taking lessons with us and he was outfitted and played his first parade with us this summer. Welcome Eleanor, George and Dustin!

Fun Fun Fun
 
The Band had a golf tournament this summer. This year's winner was again, Cory Hill. Thank you to Don G. for organizing a great event.
That same afternoon we held the Annual Picnic. After a morning of rain, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful afternoon and evening for the picnic. The horseshoe tournament was a popular event. This year's winners were Joanne M and Don G. (I taught her everything she knows)

Anniversary Year

We have started preparing for our Anniversary year. 2010 will mark our 100-year anniversary, and we have come up with some ideas to help us celebrate. We will need to turn it up a notch in 2009 if we want to complete everything by 2010. One thing that we need to seriously work on is the history book. Stories are need !!-Funny or serious -Stories about band members past or present, places we have been, adventures we have had. Everyone is asked to contribute (including those of you reading this on our website). Please submit your stories to the History Book Committee-Jim, Wilson, Ross C.