The RCMP Pipes and Drums National Division band is 20 years old this year! Something we will celebrate with a series of historical articles, presented on this blog page.
From our Pipe Major, Graeme Ogilvie: Our first formal event as the RCMP Pipes and Drums (National Capital Region) occurred 06 September 2000, the Change of Command parade for Commissioner Zaccardelli. So this, being the year of our 20th anniversary (vice the 20th anniversary of the National Program and the RCMP tartan which we recognized two years ago), is an appropriate time to celebrate. Unfortunately the current pandemic has put a halt to much of what we would have liked to have done, both now and potentially in the foreseeable future.
But it’s still an occasion for celebration, and to start things off, I am going to prepare a weekly blog article over the next 20 weeks with photos culled from the significant events that have taken place over the 20 year history of the band. Each weekly post will cover one year, starting with the year 2000. There won’t be a lot of photos from the early years, but each week’s file should build in size reflecting the increased number of events in which we participated each subsequent year.
To kick things off and to put things in perspective, here are excerpts from some of the developmental documents from 1998 that led to the establishment of our band (and the tartan, and the national program). It will put you in the mindset of those who had the wisdom and foresight to create what we celebrate today.
Read the history and the description of the beautiful RCMP Tartan (see the page)
The 5 Ws document was prepared to explain the “who what when where why” for the Pipe Band program. Read the document here
A position paper was prepared to explain why the band needed to include both RCMP members and civilian volunteers. Read about it here