The Wellington / Hawke’s Bay Centre AGM  was held on Saturday, 15 June at the Manawatu Scottish Society Hall in Palmerston North. Nancy Martin was re-elected Centre President with Andrae Peipi and Lawrence Stephenson Vice-Presidents.  Debbie Benton continues in the roles of Centre Secretary and Treasurer, Ian Telfar continues as Education Co-ordinator, while Heidi Wright has taken on the PR position and Barry Law was elected Contest Organiser for this year.

Centre Education:  We have a weekend of free workshops lined up for Saturday 28^th and Sunday 29^th September. Saturday will be music workshops, with Stuart Easton tutoring the pipers, and Gary Potter the drummers. Sunday morning will be a workshop covering “Learning & Memorising, Tips & Tricks”, led by Dr Todd Jones, a senior lecturer at Victoria University School of Psychology. In the afternoon Shannon Pittaway will present a workshop covering “Performance Improvement, Overcoming Performance Anxiety”. Shannon is a lecturer at Victoria University School of Music and principal bass trombone with the NZSO. These workshops are sure to be popular – registrations are open now.

Colin Craig Claymore and Celtic Inn Targe.   This was a great day of top class solo piping,  on the 18^th May 2024 at the Celtic Inn, Palmerston North, being the 40^th anniversary of the event. The contest is organised by the Manawatu Scottish Society and Square Day Claymore Trust. Eight of New Zealand’s elite solo pipers were invited to perform piobaireachd in the morning and light music in the afternoon.  The judges were last year’s Claymore winner Liam Kernaghan, and Targe winner Greg Wilson.  It was an excellent day of piping, and this year both the Claymore and Targe were won by Stuart Easton.

Wellington Pipers Club:  The Brown Cup and Robert Everest Memorial Piobaireachd Competitions were held on Saturday 13^th July at Scots College, Wellington. The Brown Cup requires competitors to play a march, strathspey and reel, jig and hornpipe and a slow air of their own choice while the Piobaireachd event requires one tune to be played chosen from four tunes submitted.  This was another excellent day of solo performances. The winner of The Everest Piobaireach was Stuart Easton while Willie Rowe took out the Brown Cup.

Community Parades:  Centre bands have been out in the community providing entertainment and doing great advertising for the pipe band movement. Napier Pipe Band and Hawke’s Bay Caledonian Pipe Band have been having “Tea ‘n Tunes” sessions at their local RSA, while Wellington Red Hackle Pipe Band helped celebrate Matariki in Wellington by playing on the forecourt of Te Papa Museum. Wairarapa Fern & Thistle Pipe Band (images at left) have also been out and about, most recently playing and fundraising at the Greytown Festival of Christmas.

Tartan up the Green @ Brewtown:   This is not your conventional pipe band contest. Musicians are welcome to include other instruments and the formal circle formation along with pipe band uniforms are optional. The judges will be looking for musicality and general entertainment factor. Entry forms will be available on the Centre Facebook page soon. It all happens on Saturday 12^th October. Spectator entry is free, come along and enjoy a fun day of piping and drumming, under cover, in a comfortable venue.

Jenny Mair Highland Square Day 2024:   Plans are falling into place for this highly anticipated event. It will take place on Saturday 14^th December 2024. Details will become available on the Manawatu Scottish Society Facebook page.

With Sadness: We were all saddened to hear of the passing in June, of Murray Easton. Murray was a piper with Pipes & Drums of Horowhenua and the Combined Pipe Bands of Rangitikei, Manawatu, Horowhenua, Whanganui, Tararua. He was a quietly spoken, gentleman, who was immensely proud of his family. He always had a smile and time for a chat.