McMullin New ANAPBA Chair

Albert McMullin, president of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association (EUSPBA), was appointed chairman of the Alliance of North American Pipe Band Associations (ANAPBA) here today on the final day of the organization’s annual summit meeting.

It was also determined that the 2003 summit would be held in Atlanta, Georgia, January 10-12, and hosted by the EUSPBA. The 2004 summit will be held in Vancouver.

The meeting was considered a success by those attending from the 10 member associations primarily for its communications value.

It was revealed that almost every pipe band association from around the world, including those from Holland, Germany, Sweden, and Argentina, has expressed interest in ANAPBA, and some have even suggested holding a world summit. It was agreed at the summit that the alliance’s first mandate is to manage the affairs of North America.

“The best thing we can do is to keep our own house in order and to share information,” McMullin said.

It was learned also that the alliance allegedly had a two-hour meeting with Alistair Aitken, head of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association‘s (RSPBA) Millennium Report Implementation Group. It was agreed at that meeting at the Pleasanton, California, games in September, reportedly, that communication between the RSPBA and ANAPBA would be improved, and that the RSPBA was “comfortable” with the ANAPBA concept.

It was also proposed by the RSPBA, according to outgoing ANAPBA chair, Jeff Mann, that all 10 associations become members of the RSPBA, and that ANAPBA itself should become a recognized member.

Mann revealed that the RSPBA has been invited to attend each of the three ANAPBA Summits, but has declined each time.

Throughout the two-plus-day summit, the meetings seemed to suffer from a lack of decorum from a few association representatives, with frequent side conversations occurring while issues were being debated and resolved.

At the conclusion of the summit, there was general positive discussion about the progress that the organization has made. Jeff Mann was presented with a plaque and a standing ovation for his three years as ANAPBA chairman.

“We need to let our association members know what ANAPBA is, and let them know that they are ANAPBA,” McMullin concluded.

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