Not Bad for a Street Band
100 YEARS OF THE NORTH BAY PIPES AND DRUMS
For 100 years, the North Bay Pipes and Drums have entertained the citizens of North Bay, along with audiences throughout Canada and beyond.
Founding members included men of Scottish heritage and ex-service personnel who had received musical training with the military. In 1948, the North Bay Legion Branch 23 assumed full sponsorship of the band. In 1959, the band was renamed ‘Branch 23 Royal Canadian Legion Pipes and Drums’ reflecting the changed status of the Legion itself.
The band has been integral to the city it represents by performing at public events such as festivals, parades, opening ceremonies, convention concerts, and fundraising walks. Band pipers have also played at hundreds of local weddings, funerals, and graduations.
Current band members created this display with hopes that the North Bay community, and beyond, will appreciate the dedication and service the band has provided for North Bay’s 100 years as a city.
Ceremonial Trio of Branch 23 (North Bay) lead the 33rd Ontario Command biennial convention parade in Niagara Falls, 1983
Drum Major Jan Van Der Rassell leads the North Bay Pipes and Drums
On June 11, 1967 the North Bay Pipe and Drums (then named the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23 Pipe and Drums) marched into the Pro Cathedral for the dedication of its new organ, one of many special occasions which the band helped local institutions celebrate.
Photo Courtesy of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23 Pipe and Drums Postcard, 1994
This postcard was part of a series of prints and postcards created from a photo taken by Anne Tremblay-Pedersen and Paul Pedersen of Polar Studio in order to help the group raise funds to travel to Holland in 1995.
Did You Know…
Since its inception in 1926, the North Bay Pipes and Drums was also known as the following: the North Bay Pipe Band, the Canadian Legion Pipe Band, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23 Pipes and Drums, the 22 Wing Pipe Band, and (currently) the North Bay Pipes and Drums.
Of the 28-plus bands, choirs, and orchestras that entertained the citizens of North Bay in the 1920s, the North Bay Pipes and Drums is the only one still in existence.
The band is always recruiting: please contact them at nbpipesanddrums@gmail.com, www.nbpipesanddrums.ca, and/or www.facebook.com/NorthBayPipesandDrums
“Not bad for a street band”: 100 Years of the North Bay Pipes and Drums
This book traces the North Bay Pipes and Drums’ history, including its beginnings in the mid-1920s, growth, transformations, challenges, and rewards.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Ashworth
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23 Pipe and Drums band led the 1965 Legion Convention parade through North Bay. This photograph was taken from the railway bridge that crossed over Ferguson.
Photo Courtesy of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23
Canadian National Exhibition Trophies 1960 and 1961
On Loan from Bill Boutilier
Remember When…
“One Wednesday evening in 2017, I arrived at the North Bay Elks Lodge for band practice and smiled when I entered the large hall. There were four pipers, sitting at separate tables, each working with someone who was learning to play a practice [bagpipe] chanter. The learners’ ages ranged from eight to mid-thirties. Nearby, in the Lodge kitchen, experienced drummers were working with novices using drumsticks on pads. This memory is a nod to tradition: it is how pipers become pipers and drummers become drummers.”
Elizabeth Ashworth
Member of the North Bay Pipes and Drums for 26 years and author of Not Bad for a Street Band: 100 Years of the North Bay Pipes and Drums.
Jim Lucas Kilt Pin, Dress Medals, Sgian Dubhe and Photos
Pipe Sergeant James ‘Jim’ Lucas was a Major in the RCAF, and a piper with the North Bay Pipes and Drums from 1969 to 1985. He taught several band members how to play the bagpipes. Sadly, Jim died while on parade in Haileybury in 1985.
The“Sgian Dubhe” is a knife that goes in a Scotsman’s sock. It was used to protect oneself while sleeping when the armour was checked at the castle door in olden times.
On Loan from Bill Boutilier
This creative “kaleidoscope” photograph was taken by Stephen Gallagher at a band performance at Keiller MacKay Homes, North Bay, in 1982.
From the 1960s until 2003, the band would often play at the Keiller MacKay Homes, on Olive Street. The homes were built by the Legion and named after the Hon. Lt. Col John Keiller MacKay.
Photo Courtesy of Donna Gallagher