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12/11/2004 - Band Awards and New Pipe Sergeant

Congratulations to Jim Ryan who has been made our new Pipe Sergeant of the band. Jim has made wonderful changes to the sound and musical direction of the band and this is our way of saying thank you. Both he and Dianne Nunez will share the responsibilities of that position.

Also, each year the band issues awards to certain membership who emphasize the musical dedication and skill that it takes to make for a great band. We congratulate the 2004 recipients:

Most Improved Player - Caitlin Fitch
President's Award - Bill Blackwood
Pipe Major's Award - Chuck Burgin
Drum Major's Award - Elijah Woodward
Drum Sergeant's Award - Adam Burke

and a special thank you was made to Dianne Nunez. As mentioned above, Dianne has been Pipe Sergeant for the past three years but Dianne is perhaps the most pivotal member of the band in the efforts made behind-the-scenes. Dianne acts as treasurer, grant writer, performance coordinator, press contact, head of our food drive, mother of two drummers, the best person ever...... and the list goes on. Thanks Dianne!

With the exception of two small performances on the 12th and 18th, Mesa Caledonian is done for 2004 and we'll be starting back up on January 7th. If you're interested in coming down to a practice or an upcoming engagements, send us an email.

12/04/2004 - Lost Recording Found!!!!

When Mesa Caledonian released their hit CD "For Spacious Skies" in January of 2003, the album received rave reviews from pipe band players and celtic music lovers alike. However, the "Glasgow Fire Department" jig set went to press before the producers of the CD caught a mistake. The jazz bass was missing!!! It was too late to turn around the production of the CDs and while it was thought that we could include the intended recording in the next press of CDs, our recording engineer's computer blew up and the recording was lost forever. So we THOUGHT!!!

The lost recording has been found!! A certain drummer was cleaning out his cabinets and found one of the early mix CDs with the lost bass part in the jig set! So, sit back and listen to Mesa Caledonian's "Paddy Be Funky!"

12/03/2004 - Happy Holidays from Mesa Caledonian

Everyone in Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band would like to wish all of our friends, families and competitors the happiest of holidays for 2004 and cheers to a prosperous 2005! The band will be holding a party on Friday, December 10th at our practice hall. For more information and directions, please email us.

11/17/2004 - Tucson Celtic Festival and RAF Memorial

MCPB's been fairly busy! On November 6th, the band travelled to our neighbor city to the south, Tucson, for their annual Celtic Festival. Not a competition venue, the band participated in the opening and closing ceremonies as well as performing a concert. A special thanks to Elizabeth Grant for arranging her highland dance students to perform with the band during our concert portion!

This last weekend had the band triple booked! On Saturday, half of the band went to Northern Arizona to play for the dedication of the "Arizona Veterans Highway", which is Interstate 17 between Black Canyon City and Flagstaff. The rest of the band stayed in town to perform in a wedding ceremony at the Pointe South Mountain resort. Lucky them!! Then on Sunday, Mesa Caledonian took part in the annual Royal Air Force Flyer's Memorial. This year's event was documented by PBS and we'll be sure to post details on that TV show when it's published. Also, this year's memorial was bass drummer James Grant's 40th year doing that performance. James has played in the show every year since the 1960s when he joined the Phoenix Scottish Pipe Band (where Chris Hossack was also Pipe Major many years ago).

Finally, to complete a weekend, two of our band members, tenor drummer Caitlin Fitch and her piping brother, Corey were visiting the Falcon Field airstrip with their family after the RAF gig and were asked to play inpromptu performances for the crowd at the airfield.

11/15/2004 - Golf Tournament Success

The members of the Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band would like to thank everyone who participated in our 1st ever annual (we hope) Golf Fest. The event could not have come off without the assistance of our good friends at the Francisco Grande Hotel and Golf Resort in Casa Grande, AZ where the festivities took place. The band raised a sizable amount of money to help us defray the costs of our trip to Scotland to compete in the 2005 World Championships this coming August. The 1st place foursome was actually composed of 4 student bagpipers, proving that while they may be novices on the pipes, when it comes to golf, they can certainly teach the teachers a thing or two. They finished the day at 5 under par in this scramble format.

The 2nd place foursome was led by Chuck "Screaming Bogey" Burgin who carded a 1 under par for the event. Chuck was overheard offering anyone in his foursome $50 if they would only plunk his son Duncan who was judging the longest drive contest. Alas, Duncan was well out of bounds as each golfer teed off, and no one wanted to risk losing the prize for a shot at the (sometimes) annoying young piper.

The 3rd place foursome was led by Jim "did anyone see where that shot went" Ryan. Jim's foursome carded an even par for the tournament. Finally, our last place foursome was led by our tournament director, Bill Blackwood. Not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, all we'll say here is, thank goodness Bill organizes golf better than he plays.

Full results of the tournament and photos are forthcoming!

10/07/2004 - Upcoming Engagements

Firstly, if you heard about our golf tournament on the 30th and haven't signed up yet, shame on you! Sign up, hit the links with our band and have some fun. Mesa Caledonian has several upcoming 'gigs' we'd like to tell folks about. We'll be playing at the Tucson Celtic Festival on the 6th of November. This is a really great day out at Rillito Downs Race Park and has all the features of a traditional highland games. The band will be playing a concert in the afternoon (2 PM) and in the massed bands at Noon and 4:30. The weekend after has us playing the annual memorial for the Royal Air Force cadets buried at Mesa Cemetery. Very few people know that Falcon Field Airport in Mesa used to be a British air base during WWII and Britain sent many of their trainee pilots to learn under the sunny Arizona skies. This is a free event to the public.

Check out our calendar for all our public engagements. Please come to watch the band and introduce yourself after the gig.

10/03/2004 - Work begins on the 2005 Competition Season

Who gets a break? NOT US!!!! The band is already making a lot of effort to ramp up for next season on the heels of our success at Pleasanton. 2005 will mark a new chapter in Mesa Caledonian history. Not only will we be fielding two competition units for the first time since the mid-1990s but the first time that both units will compete in Scotland. This is a big undertaking musically, physically and financially so we truly appreciate the support that we receive from family, friends and patrons.

Also, our drummers have been receiving tuition all year from both Jon Quigg of the City of Washington Pipe Band and from Andrew Hoinacki of the Los Angeles Scots Pipe Band. The results are starting to show in a refined, slightly different style from the back ranks. We are all hoping this will give us a boost in the ensemble and percussion markings this upcoming season.

Finally, check out the player bios on our roster page to learn more about our musicians and what makes us tick. You might be surprised at a few fun facts about who we are.

09/10/2004 - BIG WINS Worldwide!

Mesa Caledonian finished off the year with a VERY strong finish at Pleasanton, taking 2nd in the MSR event. The band also dominated the solo boards. Congrats to Rory McPherson who took 2nd in solo snare, Elijah Woodward who took 1st in the MSR and and Hornpipe sets, Rebecca Mayfield for 1st in the Juvenile Drum Majors and Kevin MacHeffner for his 1st in the Adult Drum Majors and 2nd in solo tenor drumming.

Overseas, our drum majors did very well in their quest to compete on an international level. Rebecca Mayfield placed 2nd at Crieff, 3rd at Rothesay and 5th!!! at the Cowal Highland Gathering. Kevin MacHeffner took a tremendous 3rd place in the Adult Drum Majors, the absolute highest a non-UK drum major has achieved in the adult grade at the Worlds! He also took 2nd places at Melrose and Crieff.

06/20/2004 - Eye In The Sky...

This report just in from the KFYI Eye in the Sky Chopper, your friends at MCPB have recently been seen removing a 2 year old Monkey from their backs. Apparently, MCPB snuck into the prize list at the San Diego Highland games, taking 3rd Place in the Grade III Medley contest on Sunday. P/M Chris Hossack was quoted as saying "I've been telling them for awhile that if we don't shoot ourselves in the foot, good things will happen. I'm just glad to see we gave ourselves a chance to compete on Sunday" The weather was a bit unpredictable all weekend. Rainy for most of Saturday, and warm and humid Sunday. The band sounded great both days (all things considered) and it was readily apparent to this bystander that we succeeded in turning more than a few heads. We got some great feedback from the judges, fellow competitors and knowledgeable listeners alike. We're looking forward to Pleasanton and a chance to really show our stuff!

05/02/2004 - Charging Up for Costa Mesa

Mesa Caledonian has been hard at work each week in preparation for the highland games in Costa Mesa, California at the end of this month. This contest kicks off the season for the band, which will take them to California three times this summer. The band is also looking at a possible competition in Portland this July.

In addition to the Grade 3 band, a Grade 4 band is preparing to compete in 2005 which will include their debut at the World Championships. Chuck Burgin has been selected to instruct that group and act as Pipe Major.

03/07/2004 - MCPB Soloists Sweep Prizes at the Arizona Games!

Congratulations to our soloists who stepped onto the competition boards at the Arizona Highland Games on February 28-29th.

Solo Piping
Amy Drown
Nicki Keesee
Elijah Woodward

Solo Drumming
Rory McPherson
Adam Burke

Juvenile Drum Major
Rebecca Mayfield

Adult Drum Major
Kevin MacHeffner

Also, congratulations to four new players who performed for the first time in a Mesa Caledonian uniform. They were pipers Cory Fitch, Jennifer Harrison and drummers Cody and Cailey Nunez.

02/03/2004 - Tartan Day Tickets and our new DVD!

Details on our annual National Tartan Day Gala Dinner and Silent Auction are now being released. Please see the web page for more information and to order your tickets online. This year's event promises to be the biggest yet! The band is working on new musical arrangements that will blow your socks off.

Also, Mesa Caledonian has put together a DVD of highlights from last summer's Scotland trip. We believe this is a first for the pipe band community and something that is very exciting. The footage includes all of the Stirling Castle concert and the band preparing/competing for the three competitions. Special thanks to Ray and Debra Guariello (parents of tenor drummer Kari) for donating their hard work to this effort.

View the news archive for 2003

View the news archive for 2002

View the news archive for 2001

View the news archive for 2000

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