Dawson Stevenson
Dawson joined the group at the ripe young age of 11. He grew interested after years of hearing about his fathers pipe & drum days. Dawson is our youngest snare drummer who is highly motivated to outshine his dad and we believe he will do just that one day.
Dawson joined the group at the ripe young age of 11. He grew interested after years of hearing about his fathers pipe & drum days. Dawson is our youngest snare drummer who is highly motivated to outshine his dad and we believe he will do just that one day.
Ronnie Dodsworth
I started the drums at the age of 12 in Truro, Nova Scotia with the 2929 Army Cadet Corp. I was a drummer for 5 years and then became a band major and was instructing others how to drum. I led a lot of parades as a band major before leaving Nova Scotia. I did not pick up the sticks again until joining Lakeland Pipes and Drums in 2014. I'm glad I got back into it.....I love being a drummer!
I started the drums at the age of 12 in Truro, Nova Scotia with the 2929 Army Cadet Corp. I was a drummer for 5 years and then became a band major and was instructing others how to drum. I led a lot of parades as a band major before leaving Nova Scotia. I did not pick up the sticks again until joining Lakeland Pipes and Drums in 2014. I'm glad I got back into it.....I love being a drummer!
Anne Warrington
As my mother was born in Scotland, I have enjoyed pipe music since I was a child. Even though my youngest son, Timothy, took two years of lessons from George Reid, it never occurred to me that I could actually learn to play the bagpipes until a friend from work said, “I’ll take lessons if you do!” When my son left for university in the fall of 2001, we took his lesson time with George Reid.
I obtained my pipes shortly after I started; George thought I should find out if I could actually blow the pipes before I spent a lot of time on the practise chanter. My pipes were previously owned by Norman Kyle and, when he passed away, given to George to sell. I didn’t know Norman Kyle but discovered later that his wife’s family and my parents were long-time friends. Although my friend moved a couple of years later I continued with my lessons. I struggled when George could no longer play the pipes with me. Although I was not yet good enough to join the band, my stubborn Scottish background kept me going.
As a child, I took piano lessons and was taught to strictly follow the music score. Bagpipe music is taught more as a group exercise. The score is used as a guide while learning the piece but the nuances are learned through listening to the instructor and other students playing the piece in rotation. I vividly remember taking the music of “Road to the Isles” home to learn. When I returned for my next lesson, George wanted me to change my timing in one spot. When I argued that wasn’t how the music was written, George replied, “That might be how the music is written but that’s NOT how it is played!” To ensure that I would learn the tune correctly, George found a different arrangement that was written the way he wanted it to be played. Another difficulty for me was that instead of playing from the score as I did when playing the piano, I had to memorize the music so I could play while marching. We won’t even discuss having to march and play at the same time!
I succeeded and played in my first parade at Vermilion in 2007. After George Reid passed away, I carried on my lessons with Shelly MacDonald. In 2010, I had my first solo performance. It was short but never-the-less it was a solo!
I obtained my pipes shortly after I started; George thought I should find out if I could actually blow the pipes before I spent a lot of time on the practise chanter. My pipes were previously owned by Norman Kyle and, when he passed away, given to George to sell. I didn’t know Norman Kyle but discovered later that his wife’s family and my parents were long-time friends. Although my friend moved a couple of years later I continued with my lessons. I struggled when George could no longer play the pipes with me. Although I was not yet good enough to join the band, my stubborn Scottish background kept me going.
As a child, I took piano lessons and was taught to strictly follow the music score. Bagpipe music is taught more as a group exercise. The score is used as a guide while learning the piece but the nuances are learned through listening to the instructor and other students playing the piece in rotation. I vividly remember taking the music of “Road to the Isles” home to learn. When I returned for my next lesson, George wanted me to change my timing in one spot. When I argued that wasn’t how the music was written, George replied, “That might be how the music is written but that’s NOT how it is played!” To ensure that I would learn the tune correctly, George found a different arrangement that was written the way he wanted it to be played. Another difficulty for me was that instead of playing from the score as I did when playing the piano, I had to memorize the music so I could play while marching. We won’t even discuss having to march and play at the same time!
I succeeded and played in my first parade at Vermilion in 2007. After George Reid passed away, I carried on my lessons with Shelly MacDonald. In 2010, I had my first solo performance. It was short but never-the-less it was a solo!
Todd Ree
I am new to the pipes and pipe band scene, having just receive my pipes in May 2010. I have been taking lessons from Shelly MacDonald and under her brilliant tutelage I have been able to play in several parades, Robbie Burns suppers, Remembrance Day ceremonies, and other assorted events.
Carmen Zayac
The first time I held a set of pipes I was 10. They belonged to my uncle and I could barely get them to make a sound. From then on I longed to play, but my chance to learn did not come until I was an adult and met George Reid. I began to take lessons and was very proud when I heard music coming from this instrument that had gotten the better of me when I was a child. I would love to say that I have played consistently since meeting George, but the introduction of a husband and three small children has made my relationship with the pipes an ‘on again – off again’ one. However, I play when I get the chance, and hope one day to be able to devote more time to the instrument and the band.
Seamus Good
Originally from Brooks Alberta, I am now attending Lakeland College in the Animal Science Technology program. I have been playing the tenor drum since 2008. I started playing the drums when I was 13 in school band with the drum set for about two years. I attended the University of Calgary Band Camp for two years where my drumming improved. Unfortanetley the school band dissolved, and I didn't play for a year. It wasn't until 2008, when my family went to Scotland with my sister highland dance school, that I picked it up again. One of the fathers on the trip palyed the bagpipes in the South Alberta Pipes and Drums (SAPD). He found out that I was a drummer and he invited me to come out to practice. I started taking tenor drum lessons in September 2008 and then in November 2009 I was elected into the band. I played with the SAPD for two years before I came to Lakeland College. I found out about Lakeland Pipes and Drums through Todd Ree, who is one of my instructors at Lakeland College
P/M Shelly MacDonald
I started learning the chanter at age 12 with the Clan MacNaughton Pipe Band and played with that band for 5 years. The band was mainly a street parade band and for those 5 years, summers were spent at small town parades and most weekends, fundraising for the band. At 16, I started lessons with Patrick McIntyre, left Clan Macnaughton and entered the competition ring. I competed solo as well as in duets and quartets for the next 4 years. During that time, I also played with a band formed by Patrick called the Black Thistle Pipe Band. We played mainly alternative music, much of it written and arranged by Patrick McIntyre. We were invited to play at many gatherings, but only competed once, at the Nelson Highland Games where the judges didn’t know how to grade our unorthodox music.
I left the piping world for about a decade and then came back to join the Big Rock Pipe Band (now Edmonton and District Pipe Band) and competed with that band for 3 years.
After moving to Vermilion for work, I joined the Lakeland Pipes and Drums and have enjoyed teaching pipes to the band members since 2007. I’ve been acting as Pipe Major with the support of Barry Roth since 2010.
I left the piping world for about a decade and then came back to join the Big Rock Pipe Band (now Edmonton and District Pipe Band) and competed with that band for 3 years.
After moving to Vermilion for work, I joined the Lakeland Pipes and Drums and have enjoyed teaching pipes to the band members since 2007. I’ve been acting as Pipe Major with the support of Barry Roth since 2010.