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11/13/00 - FREE Concert November 21st, Mesa Amphitheatre!

Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band will be performing a free, one-hour concert at the Mesa Amphitheatre on November 21st at 7PM. Acts will include the Pipes & Drums, Highland Dancers, solo pipers, a drum salute and more! Please bring your friends and enjoy a concert in this fantastic outdoor setting. Driving directions to the Mesa Amphitheatre are available courtesy of Yahoo!

10/10/00 - Fundraising Opportunity through Amazon.Com

The holidays are right around the corner!!! Have you done your shopping yet? As a non-profit organization, Mesa Caledonian operates solely on performance fees and donations from our public and supporters. We are holding a unique fundraiser by allowing you to shop online at Amazon.Com through our web site with our Holiday Gift Fair. Amazon is the largest collection of books, music, videos and electronics online. For each product you purchase by visiting from our web site, we will receive a percentage of the profits! Why not take care of that holiday shopping right now? Go to our Holiday Gift Fair now!

09/29/00 - Black Watch/Prince of Wales Performance

Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band opened for the Black Watch and Prince of Wales Division, Lucknow Band at America West Arena on September 28th, 2000. This opportunity allowed our musicians to perform in front of thousands from around the Phoenix area! We received a warm reception and several inquiries on lessons and other performances!

09/01/00 - Pleasanton and World Championships

The band recently returned from northern California after competing at the Caledonian Club of San Fransisco games in Pleasanton. The band took 5th in the Medley! Drake Dauben won the Aggregate Grade 4 Solo Piping award and is looking at a future in Grade 3 next season. Kevin MacHeffner won the aggregate Drum Major award, earning the title of Western U.S. Drum Major Champion for 2000.

Also of note, Drum Major MacHeffner recently competed in Scotland. Kevin placed 2nd at Inverkeithing, 3rd at Bridge of Allan and tied for 10th (of 40) at the World Pipe Band Championships, being the Best Overseas Adult Drum Major.

07/19/00 - MCPB.ORG chosen as Web Site of the Year!

Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band has been chosen as a Web Site of the Year by The Bagpipe Web Directory. This award represents overall excellence in web design and is chosen by visitors to the bagpipe web. Of the 38 "Web Site of the Week" nominees, our site was one of 8 selected winners.

Other Winning Sites:

La Gaita Asturiana (the Asturian Pipe)
Bucksburn & District Pipe Band
Johnstone Pipe Band
Linlithgow & District Pipe Band
Peel Regional Police Pipe Band
Piper & Drummer Magazine
Simon Fraser University Pipe Band

07/02/00 - Arizona Highlanders - New Grade 4 Band

This month will mark the official birth of The Arizona Highlanders Grade 4 Pipe Band of Flagstaff, Arizona. They will have a band clinic on July 15 and 16 at which they will receive their new march medley. The Arizona Highlanders will also utilize some of our novice members who are not quite ready for the MCPB competition band. This band will receive instruction from our own Mike McKee. We look forward to watching their progress as Arizona's newest pipe band.

07/01/00 - San Diego Highland Games Recap

Just a few weeks after a successful weekend in Costa Mesa, the band once again traveled to Vista, California for the San Diego Scottish Highland Games held June 24th-25th in Brengle Terrace Park. We placed in the top three of both band contests. Additionally, our solo competitors performed extremely well taking top honors and prizes in their respective disciplines.

• Drake Dauben -1st Place Grade IV March and Slow Air
  
• Kevin MacHeffner - 1st Place Drum Major, 1st Place Grade I Tenor Drumming
• Andrew Walker - 2nd Place Grade II MSR
  
• Jan Markham - 3rd Place Grade I Tenor Drumming
  
• Mike McKee - 3rd Place Grade II Piobaireachd
  

Drake Dauben was additionally asked to be the solo piper for Amazing Grace in massed bands.

Grade 3 Medley Results:

1. R.P. Blandford & Sons
2. Cameron Highlanders
3. Mesa Caledonian

Grade 3 March-Strathspey-Reel Results:

1. R.P. Blandford & Sons
2. Cameron Highlanders
3. Mesa Caledonian

We'd like to state that R.P. Blandford & Sons has turned out an impressive competition repertoire and we wish them the best of luck and success in Scotland this August at the World Pipe Band Championships.

06/17/00 - Surfer's Choice Award

Our web site has just received the Surfer's Choice Internet Award in the Entertainment category. This award has been in existence since 1995 and judges web sites on a strict set of criteria.

06/08/00 - Web Site of The Week

Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band has been chosen as the Web Site Of The Week for June 9th, 2000 on The Bagpipe Web Directory! Bob Dunsire is the creator of the site and has done a great job of amassing endless amounts of piping-related links and materials. Be sure to visit his site soon.

05/30/00 - Costa Mesa Highland Games Recap

Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band returned home very successful from the United Scottish Society Highland Games, held May 24th and 25th in Costa Mesa, California.(See video of the pipe band competing).

Grade 3 Medley Results:

1. R.P. Blandford & Sons
2. Seven Pipers Society
3. Mesa Caledonian

Grade 3 March-Strathspey-Reel Results:

1. R.P. Blandford & Sons
2. Mesa Caledonian
3. City of Sacramento

Several of the band's membership competed in solo competition and also did quite well!

• Drake Dauben -3rd Place Piping Slow March
• Jennifer Harrison - 1st place Sword Dance, 1st Place Trews, 3rd Place Flora
• Kevin MacHeffner - Winner of the Stranrear and Neil McIntyre Memorial Trophys for 1st Place and Aggregate Drum Major

We'd also like to specially congratulate Seven Pipers Society of Tucson, Arizona on their 2nd place earnings in the Grade 3 Medley.

05/15/00 - Make a Tax-Deductible Donation Online

Mesa Caledonian, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, has thrived since 1980 solely on paying engagements and support from our public audience. It is our intention to raise enough funds to send our pipe band to Scotland. It's people like you that make this happen.

We can now accept donations from our supporters online through Helping.org , powered by GuideStar. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation. And thank you!!!

05/15/00 - New Leadership Appointments!

Four of Mesa Caledonian's finest have been appointed to new leadership roles. Congratulations are in order for Phil Burk and Dianne Nunez who have been appointed to the role of Pipe Sergeant. Phil is one of our Colorado pipers who has commuted to play with the band since 1996. Dianne has been in the band for fifteen years and also does a great job as the band's treasurer.

Additionally, congratulations go to Jeanne MacHeffner and Mike McKee on their appointment to Pipe Corporal. Jeanne is an experienced piper (formerly Pipe Sergeant with City of Denver PB) while Mike is also a long time member of the organization and instructor for the Arizona Highlanders Pipe Band in Flagstaff.

All four will do a fantastic job of improving the band's skill level. Congratulations!!!

05/14/00 - We are listed on GuideStar!

GuideStar, billing itself as the "donor's guide to the charitable universe" is a searchable database of over 640,000 non-profit organizations in the United States. Mesa Caledonian is now listed on Guidestar. This service also allows the ability to give donations to our organization online.

05/09/00 - Flagstaff Concert Recap

On Saturday, April 29, MCPB played a concert hosted in Flagstaff Elks Lodge by the Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society. All the proceeds from the concert and the silent auction that was also a part of the event were generously donated to MCPB to assist us with our travel to Scotland. The proceeds from this event, including a donation collected by Drake and Jack Dauben when Drake played at the opening of the Flagstaff Little League earlier in the day, and including the sale of 13 CD's amounted to over $1,000.

Even more important than the money we made, was the excitement generated in Flagstaff for the concert. The audience was really appreciative and made all of us feel really welcome. The Arizona Highlander's performed a set in the concert and played with MCPB in the finale. The Highlanders were really great and it made it very special for us to be able to perform with them in this concert. It was also a special evening because it provided the the stage for Drake Dauben's first performance with MCPB. Drake looked great and sounded even more magical than usual in MCPB's uniform. In addition to the band performances, there were Irish dancers, some exciting piping solos from Mike McKee, Drake Dauben, Johnny Ramsey, Andy Walker and Chris Hossack. Dave Hossack additionally performed his usual magic in his drumming solo.

MCPB would like to express its most sincere appreciation to Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society and the Arizona Highlanders for hosting this concert on our behalf. It was a really great show from our standpoint and we hope to be able to do it again next year.

-PM Chris Hossack

04/20/00 - Tartan Day Gala Successful

If you weren't attending our National Tartan Day Gala, you missed out on a spectacular evening! Hundreds of Scots enthusiasts joined together to celebrate National Tartan Day in our own special way. Several bidding wars occurred in our silent auction, and everyone had a blast. Our thanks go out to Alex Beaton who provided the featured entertainment, and to all of our sponsors and volunteers.

Photos and highlights will be available on our National Tartan Day Gala page.

03/30/00 - Snare Drummers Wanted

Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band currently has openings in the drum corps for dedicated and talented snare drummers. We are looking for individuals with Grade 2 Solo/Pipe Band experience or a comparable background in collegiate marching band or DCI fields. Interested parties should contact Drum Sergeant David Hossack for more information.

03/06/00 - Arizona Highland Games Recap

Mesa felt a bit like the old country during the 34th Annual Arizona Scottish Gathering and Highland Games held February 26th and 27th. With 9 pipe bands in attendance, a mini-competition was held for Grades 4 and 3 with the following results:

• Grade 4: High Desert Pipes & Drums (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
• Grade 3: R.P. Blandford & Son Pipe Band

Other bands in attendance included Cabar Feidh, Spirit of Scotland, Phoenix Scottish, Sabbar Shrine, Cameron Highlanders, and of course, Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band.

Solo competitions were also held with Snare Drummer Matt Bowman entering competition for the very first time!!!! Also, congratulations to Adam Burke and Kevin MacHeffner for their first prize winnings in the Grade 3 Snare Drumming and Grade 1 Tenor Drumming competitions, respectively.

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