78th Fraser Highlanders: 2022 North American Champions

The Peel Regional Police won Grade 2, with the best combined ranking points, even though the band was first in the MSR and fourth in the Medley, against MacMillan’s second and first in those events, respectively. PPBSO rules count up all eight judges’ placings across the two events to determine the overall result. The RSPBA, on the other hand, determines winners in competitions like the World Championships where there are two Grade 1 events by adding the overall placings from each event.

The PPBSO released an incorrect Grade 1 Medley result on summary sheets, later discovering the error in the ensemble mark. The 78th Fraser Highlanders won both events. With the names of the two bands so similar, inadvertent mistakes are understandable.

Andrea Boyd of Ottawa took Professional Piper of the Day honours for most aggregate points across the three solo events. (Results from the Glengarry March, Strathspey & Reel contest are not factored in.) The Professional Piobaireachd had to be split into two groups. Blair Beaton was the Professional Solo Snare Drummer of the Day. Kayleigh Johnstone was Amateur Piper of the Day and Brian Turner won Amateur Drummer of the Day.

Weather was unusually cool in the morning but warmed to about 25°C later, remaining overcast for most of the day.

The PPBSO awarded an Honourary Life Membership to Colin MacLellan, who lived in Ontario for 22 years before returning to his native Edinburgh in 1998. Ontario stalwart Hugh Cameron was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by guest judge Jim Sim.

After many speeches, the results ceremony finally wrapped up around 7:15.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for videos from the Grade 1 and Grade 2 competitions.

Medley
1st 78th Fraser Highlanders (1,2,1,1)
2nd 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) (2,1,2,2)
Best Bass Section: 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel)
Judges: Michael Grey, Bob Worrall (piping); Jim Sim (drumming); Colin MacLellan (ensemble)

MSR
1st 78th Fraser Highlanders (2,1,1,1)
2nd 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) (1,2,2,2)
Best Bass Section: 78th Fraser Highlanders
Judges: John Elliott, Charlie MacDonald (piping); Hugh Cameron (drumming); Glenna Mackay-Johnstone (ensemble)

Medley
1st MacMillan (3,3,1,1)
2nd St. Andrew’s College Association (2,2,3,2)
3rd Toronto Police (1,1,5,3)
4th Peel Regional Police (4,4,2,4)
5th Rocky Mountain (5,6,4,6)
6th Ottawa Police Service (6,5,6,5)
Best Bass Section: MacMillan
Judges: Andrea Boyd, Charlie MacDonald (piping); Doug Stronach (drumming); John Elliott (ensemble)

MSR
1st Peel Regional Police (1,1,1,1)
2nd MacMillan (4,3,2,2)
3rd Ottawa Police Service (3,5,4,3)
4th Toronto Police (2,4,6,4)
5th Rocky Mountain (6,2,3,6)
6th St. Andrew’s College Association (5,6,5,5)
Best Bass Section: St. Andrew’s College Association
Judges: Michael Grey, Bob Worrall (piping); Jim Sim (drumming); Colin MacLellan (ensemble)

Grade 3 (MSR)
1st Ottawa Highlanders (1,2,1,1)
2nd Guelph (2,1,3,3)
3rd MacMillan-Birtles (4,4,2,2)
4th Glengarry (3,3,4,4)
Best Bass Section: Ottawa Highlanders
Judges: John Elliott, Charlie MacDonald (piping); Jim Sim (drumming); Glenna Mackay-Johnstone (ensemble)

Grade 4 (medley, eight competed)
1st Niagara Regional Police (2,2,1,1)
2nd Durham Regional Police (1,1,3,3)
3rd Mohawk Valley Frasers (3,3,8,4)
4th Rob Roy (5,4,2,7)
5th London & District (6,6,4,5)
6th Kingston Police (6,6,4,5)
7th Peel Regional Police (Gr4) (8,8,5,6)
8th Glengarry (Gr4) (7,5,7,8)
Best Bass Section: Niagara Regional Police
Judges: Michael Grey, Bob Worrall (piping); Doug Stronach (drumming); Colin MacLellan (ensemble)

Grade 5 (march medley, 10 competed)
1st Peel Regional Police (Gr5) (4,2,1,2)
2nd Ryan Russell Memorial (1,1,2,5)
3rd Durham Regional Police (Gr5) (2,3,4,1)
4th Ottawa Caledonian (5,4,3,3)
5th Smith’s Falls Gordon (3,5,9,4)
6th Pelham Regional (6,7,7,8)
7th Quigley Highlanders (7,8,8,6)
8th Kingston Police (Gr5) (8,9,6,7)
9th Sons of Scotland (9,6,5,10)
10th Rob Roy (Gr5) (10,10,10,9)
Best Bass Section: Peel Regional Police (Gr5)
Judges: John Elliott, Charlie MacDonald (piping); Hugh Cameron (drumming); Glenna Mackay-Johnstone (ensemble)

Professional Solo Piping
Piobaireachd
Group A (10 entered)
1st Ben McClamrock, Washington, DC
2nd Andrea Boyd
3rd Callum Harper, Bolton, Ontario
4th Ian K. MacDonald, Whitby, Ontario
5th Jacob Dicker, Hammond, Ontario
6th Bobby Durning, Carrollton, Texas
Judge: Michael Grey

Group B (nine entered)
1st Liam MacDonald, Waterloo, Ontario
2nd Tyler Johnson, Oak Park, Michigan
3rd Liam Melville, Smith’s Falls, Ontario
4th Tony Adkins
5th Ross Davison, Ottawa
6th Caleb Thibodeau, Toronto
Judge: Ed Bush

Glengarry MSR (20 entered)
1st Ben McClamrock
2nd Ian K. MacDonald
3rd Andrea Boyd
4th Jacob Dicker
5th Callum Harper
6th Andrew Donlon, Germantown, Maryland
Judge: Colin MacLellan

March  (19 entered)
1st Callum Harper
2nd Jacob Dicker
3rd Ian K. MacDonald
4th Andrea Boyd
5th Caleb Thibodeau
6th Tyler Johnson
Judge: Bob Worrall

Strathspey & Reel  (20 entered)
1st Ian K. MacDonald
2nd Ben McClamrock
3rd Andrew Donlon
4th Andrea Boyd
5th Daniel Pislowski, Danielson, Connecticut
6th MacGregor Van De Ven, Toronto
Judge: Hector MacDonald

Jigs  (20 entered)
1st Andrea Boyd, “Donella Beaton,” “The Seagull”
2nd Tyler Johnson
3rd Ian K. MacDonald
4th Bobby Durning
5th Jacob Dicker
6th Dan Lyden, Germantown, Maryland
Judge: Andrew Berthoff

Professional Solo Snare Drumming (six competed)
MSR
1st Blair Beaton
2nd Harvey Dawson
3rd James Kirkwood
4th Matthew Page
5th Jeremy Keddy
6th Neil Birkett
Judge: Doug Stronach

Hornpipe & Jig
1st Blair Beaton
2nd James Kirkwood
3rd Jeremy Keddy
4th Harvey Dawson
5th Matthew Page
6th Neil Birkett
Judge: Jim Sim