2009 Texas Fire Pipes and Drums Fall practice
This page is here to place information about the 2009 Texas Fire Pipes and Drums practice in Georgetown, TX. Please check by from time to time.
Thursday, November 12th, 2009 - There is a block of 20 rooms at the Comfort Suites in Georgetown.
(Comfort Suites, Georgetown, (512) 863-7544)
The National Honor Guard Academy is being hosted by the Fire Department the week of November 8th-13th so when making your reservations please be sure to say you are with the “Pipes and Drums”.
Booking includes hot breakfast, each room has a microwave, fridge, coffee maker, hair dryer, free high speed internet and the hotel has a business center. Or course Chili’s and Applebee’s are walking distance. Deadline to book your room is October, 21st!!
Thursday night we are planning a meet and greet at Stephen Cameron’s House. He has a nice place and an even nicer back yard / deck / pool. Ian K. McDonald is staying at Stephen’s and so it just makes sense to have it at Steve’s! Y’all just come and go, it will be a GREAT time and a great way to kick off the weekend! We will have refreshments (and kegs) and snacks so eat before you come. We will also have the information for spouses there.
Depending on the time of night, some of the shops on the Square stay open late. There are some awesome shops so you can get in some early Christmas shopping (I always go to the Escape - you can’t go wrong there guys!) There is a great coffee shop and some nice restaurants. Just take a stroll with your family and enjoy!
Friday, November 13th, 2009
The Fall State Practice is going to be in Georgetown, TX at the First Baptist Church (1333 W. University Ave). It will start at 8am SHARP and conclude at 5pm. We have 3 piping instructors, the first is Toronto Police Pipe Band P/M Ian K. MacDonald (Here is the T.P.P.B. in action.), Westminster Pipe Band P/M Bruce Robertson, and ESPADA Pipe Major Todd Bircher. We will of course have Ian’s good friendStephen Cameron from Cameron Highland Drumming and Stephen’s wing man from his Westminster Drum Corp Jon Greene working with all of the drummers. We want to have a good, solid day of practice for every member attending. There are several things that I’m sure each P/M wants to work on and Jeff will be gathering info from all state P/Ms prior to the practice so that we can get right to work. From 8 a.m.-12 p.m. we will (more than likely) be inside on chanters and practice pads in different breakout rooms. Lunch will be provided by Local 3991 and catered on site so that we can keep working. From 1-5 p.m. we will (more than likely) be outside marching and playing whatever the instructors determine to practice. There will be two vendors on site, Tommy’s Drum Shop and Lone Star Piper and tables will be available for everyone to sell t-shirts and hats. We will also have the information for the spouses available there.
Several spouses have stepped up to help with activities for your family to do while in Georgetown. There will be a kid-friendly package and a shopper’s package. We will try to think of some others and would welcome input. The Georgetown Convention & Visitors Center is providing us with information to hand out.
After practice, we are looking at letting everyone grab a bite to eat somewhere in Georgetown and we will have advise for good places to eat. The good news is everything is really close by.
A new item that has come up that we will take input on…the Downtown Georgetown’s Association’s Summer Music Series will be at the corner of 8th and Main St. on Friday night. We might be able to go and crash the music scene. I do not want to rush all over the place however. (They already asked and I told them we will think about it.) I will leave that one up in the air for now.
We have booked a 55 passenger Charter Bus to get to (and return from) the Pub crawl. We would ask that each of you pitch in about $11.50 to get a safe ride to and from 6th St. for you and your instrument. Here are the transportation details…
The Charter will:
arrive at the Comfort Suites in Georgetown at 8:30pm, (Load up!)
depart Georgetown at 9:00pm,
arrive in Austin (6th St. area) about 9:30pm, (Unload, Tune, and Crawl!)
The Charter will:
be available to load up (6th St. area) at 12:30am
depart Austin at 1:00am
arrive at the Comfort Suites in Georgetown about 1:30am.
ESPADA Band Manager, Coitt Kessler, is coordinating the Pub Crawl (as only he can - I don’t know how he does it!) on 6th Street in Austin on Friday night. We will more than likely hit some of the same pubs (B.D. Riley’s and Fado) from Fall ‘07 and then get back to Georgetown in one piece. It will be a blast and even more time to practice as a State Group! E.G.H.
END of State Practice.
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
(History leading up to this whole thing) - At the 2008 Salado Highland Games, Rose Adams (the coordinator) approached us the see if there would be any interest in hosting a Texas Emergency Services Pipe Band Invitational. We told her we would look into it and it sounds like there might just be some interest throughout the state. It will be a mini-band (friendly) competition with a $40 entry fee and place prize and a trophy. This will be the first of hopefully many to come if it goes well. This is a chance to go out on the field and get some very valuable feedback from some world class judges. Public Safety bands normally do not compete at events. No pressure here, but this gives us all another chance to hone our mad skills, get some advise from the judges (Ian and Bruce), get our band names out there and represent our departments in a very good way! The people will see the incredible pride we have in our noble profession and our sense of tradition. Whoever wins buys everyone a round!
In the morning there is individual piping competition for those that are sober (cough - Dan!). There will be a March Past Parade that will open the Games at Noon. Due to flooding damage the games will be held at the Salado Civic Center at 601 N. Main St. in Salado. The Emergency Service competition will begin at 2 p.m. After that, grab a seat in your lawn chair and enjoy the Grade 3 competition at 3pm. Salado usually attracts the St. Thomas Episcopal Pipe Band, Silver Thistle Pipe Band and other Grade 3 bands. They are good! That night there is a Tattoo at the ruins of the old Salado College which is really cool.
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Rose Adams has asked if the whole state group or a small contingent might be interested in competing in the Grade 4 competition. We will have to see if we have enough interest from the group and go from there. If there is please let us know so we can register.
Quick Links:
Texas Fire Pipes and Drums
2009 Salado Highland Games
Stay tuned for much more info like music you can select for competing, hotel info, Georgetown attractions for the family, Thursday night info, etc…
It looks like it will be one heck of a weekend! The most important part is that we must get a good, solid day of practice in on Friday. That is the whole point–the rest is just fun and games! The Salado Highland Games will provide a chance to improve your skills on several levels. There will be something for everyone. See y’all soon!
New item… The Georgetown FD Honor Guard is set to host the National Honor Guard Academy the week of November 8-13, 2009 in Georgetown. Should be a fun week!
If you need anything or have any ideas please contact us and we will get right back with you.
Accommodations: Host Hotel is the Comfort Suites.
Holiday Inn Express - Georgetown
(512) 868-8555 - 15 reviews
La Quinta Inn - Georgetown
(512) 869-2541 - 40 reviews
Comfort Suites (Host Hotel) - Georgetown
(512) 863-7544 - 12 reviews
Georgetown Inn - Georgetown
(512) 863-5572 - 7 reviews
Quality Inn - Georgetown
(512) 863-7504 - 8 reviews
San Gabriel House B & B - Georgetown
(512) 930-0070 - 3 reviews
San Gabriel Motel - Georgetown
(512) 819-9374 - 3 reviews
