Those who live near the Slingerlands Fire Department in Bethlehem might be wondering why they’ve been hearing the sounds of bagpipes coming from the station between 9 a.m. and noon for the past two weeks. They might just be witnessing or hearing history in the making as the Scotia Glenville Pipe Band, made up of youths ages 8-18, prepares to compete in the Piping Live! Glasgow International piping Festival and The World Pipe Band Championships on Aug. 10 to 16.
Members don’t just hail from the Capital District ` one comes from as far as Texas, with others traveling from Vermont and Massachusetts.
`I went to a bag piping school in Castelton, Vt., and the Scotia Glenville Pipe Band was doing a band week at that school,` said Jonathan Brouillet, 17, of Houston, Texas. `I talked to some people and got involved. When I first got into it I didn’t even know what bagpipes were.`
He said that he practices in a soundproof room at home so that `the neighbors don’t call the cops.`
Participating in the pipe band also includes a great amount of commitment from family members. Brouillet has been staying in Massachusetts with his grandparents and mother for the past two weeks. He and his mother will spend the next two weeks in Scotland.
Hayden LaBelle, 15, of Duanesburg and a sophomore at Schalmont High School is in his second year of competing and playing with the band. This is his third year playing the snare drum.
`My dad takes lessons from the director, Maureen, and that sparked my interest,` said LaBelle. `It’s fun but it takes a lot of out me.`
LaBelle will also play drums for the first time with Schalmont High School’s marching band this year.
He said the other best part of being involved with the Scotia Glenville Pipe Band are the friends he has made, who he intends to keep even after he’s graduated from the band. (Members can only stay until they’re 18.)
Mike Soressi, 16, who is a senior at Voorheesville High School, moved to the Capital District last year from Colorado. He started playing the bagpipes there about four years ago, and when he and his family found out they were moving to the area, his instructor told him about the band.
`I guess I enjoy playing and getting better,` said Soressi. `I do get nervous performing sometimes. It’s my first time going to Scotland.`
Linnea McMath, 17, of Walden, Vt., comes to the area once a month during the school year to practice with the band over the weekend and has been coming more often this summer. She got involved with playing the drums because both her father and sister are bagpipers.
`Our Scottish connection originally is from my grandfather, who encouraged them to start, and then they were both involved, and I wanted to be part of it too, so I started on the tenor drum and then switched over to snare,` said McMath.
The band started in 1989 as part of the Scotia Glenville School District and expanded its membership to people outside of the district in 1999 when the group started competing.
`There aren’t a lot of bands like this in the U.S. They’re very common in Scotland,` said Eric MacNeill, who is the drum instructor for the band.
The first time the band competed in Scotland, MacNeill estimates that they probably had three drummers and five pipers. This year the band will compete with 13 pipers, eight side drummers, three tenor drummers and a base drummer.
`They’re competing against six bands in the world,` said MacNeill.
Four bands are from Scotland and one is from Canada.
`It’s very rare to have a group of kids together that are playing at that standard all together,` said MacNeill.
The amount of time the group will spend competing will last a total of five minutes.
To learn more about the Scotia Glenville Pipe Band, there will be an open house from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Scotia Glenville Middle School on Wednesday, Sept. 30, in the middle school. For more information, visit www.sgpipeband.com. Check back to future editions of The Spotlight to find out how the Scotia Glenville Pipe Band did in competition
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