The day woke up to heavy rain, but for an indoor event that is no problem and by the time this Chief Steward was heading to Dr. Hines School the rain had all but stopped. By the number of cars in the parking lot it looked like there was going to be a good group of contestants there but after talking with Dan Gillis, the Steward for the games, he informed me the numbers were down although those that were present did a great job and the venue for the games was great.

The judges for the day were Mike Grey from Dundas, Ontario; Bruce Gandy of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Scott Williams of Antigonish, Nova Scotia and Dave Coleman of Fredericton, New Brunswick. We also had Rod MacLean of Halifax, Nova Scotia finish off his apprenticeship to become the newest ACPBA judge, congrats Rod!

The competition was steady all morning but the Professional piping events were canceled because only James Beaumont from the College of Piping was the only open competitor - hopefully he will get some competition at the future games!

Half way through the morning the sun emerged and it turned into a glorious day and the decision was made to move the pipe band competition onto the sports field - a welcomed decision by all the bands. The pipe band competition started early in the afternoon with a brisk breeze out of the South West to keep the bugs off.

A good crowd was on hand to watch the first pipe band competition of the season and was not to be disappointed as all the bands played very well. Dartmouth & District was the lone band in Grade 5. Grade 4 was won by Dartmouth & District over the 78th Highlanders Halifax Citadel. Antigonish Highland Society won Grade 3 and Dartmouth & District were the Grade 2 winners.

Massed bands were led onto the field by Drum Major John Cody to the tunes Atholl Highlanders and Bonnie Dundee. Emcee and Chairman of the Piping and Drumming Iain Boyd welcomed everyone and then asked for a moment of Silence in remembrance for Capt Nichola Goddard of the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, a graduate of Dr Hines School who was killed in action on the 17th of May, 2006 in the Panjway district, Kandahar, Afganistan. James Beaumont played a lament in honor of the fallen. Lest we Forget.

Presentations were made and the bands were marched off the field. Thanks to organizers Iain Boyd and Dan Gillis as well as all their stewards for a great day and a great event.