Dunedin reins to be officially handed over to Donaldson
Af
ter 30 years as Pipe-Major of the Grade 3 City of Dunedin Pipe Band of Florida, Sandy Keith will officially hand over leadership to Iain Donaldson at the organization’s annual general meeting in December.
Donaldson officially became the city’s Director of Piping on October 1st, and has taken the band into competition several times already in 2011, including winning performances at the Stone Mountain Games in Georgia in October and the Glasgowland 
Highland Games in Massachusetts earlier in the summer. The Grade 3 band plans to travel to Scotland in 2012 to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships in Grade 3A.
A native of Paisley, Scotland, Sandy Keith immigrated to Canada in the 1960s and was Pipe-Major of the Grade 1 Erskine Pipe Band until he moved to Dunedin in the late 1970s to run the city’s traditional piping and drumming program, which include teaching at the large Dunedin High School, which supports two additional pipe bands.
Keith’s City of Dunedin won several titles at the United States Pipe Band Championships and competed in Grade 2 for several years. The band finished second in Grade 3A at the 1998 World Championships. Although he will retire from teaching with the city, Keith will continue to run the annual Dunedin Highland Games.
Donaldson, a native of Buffalo, New York, moved to Dunedin in early-2011. He was Pipe-Sergeant of the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band for several years, and was a member of that band for 20 years before joining the House of Edgar-Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band for most of the 2000s.
“The City of Dunedin Pipe Band is very pleased to have Iain on board,” said Jamie Everett, President of the band. “We would also like to wish the very best for Sandy and Mary Keith as they enjoy his retirement together, and thank him for his endless time and commitment that made him the face of piping for the State of Florida.”
Just to add a little more to my previous statement; the band cannot thank Sandy enough for his contributions over the years. We were happy to see the city take notice and present him a key to the city at his retirement party as well. Also the band is very excited with the work Iain has put into the band already. As always, we are looking for new members. We have both a grade 4 and 3 band.
Congrats, Mad Dog. All the best.
Congrats to Iain! Heard the band last month at the Stone Mountain Games (awesome!) and had the pleasure of chatting with several players. The support of the Dunedin community is just amazing and something I wish we had more of here in Pasadena. Best of luck for the future. — John McD
Congrats Iain, all the best. Should be good!
Wish i lived in Florida !
[edited] All the best Iain, your band is blessed to have you. Hossman.