By John Geddes
Every Monday evening, dozens of individuals have been seen silently entering the side entrance of a local Fort Lauderdale Police Hall. A suspicious chorus of chants is then heard emanating from the silence. “This has been happening week after week, month after month for quite some time.’ a resident has reported, ‘I’ve been curious as to what has been going on right in my own neighborhood!”
According to several sources, there is growing interest to the physical functions of these “bands”. The band identified as The Fort Lauderdale Highlanders places their origin at some 31 years ago, beginning in the summer of 1973. It was then, that a group from the Fort Lauderdale Scottish American Club asked Bill Sloan and two more individuals from the old Miami Florida band to create a band local to the Fort Lauderdale area. The first public performance was at a dance in 1974. The band at this time could only play three tunes. As recalled by Bill Sloan the band’s first Pipe Major, “…we sounded like hell but they loved it. All the Scots were dying for a pipe band.” They started out as the Inverrary Pipe Band. Some confused them with having an affiliation with the Inverrary residential community so the name was changed after a year to reflect its broader base of membership. The Gordon tartan the band first wore was due to an error in ordering a Campbell plaid. The supplier offered the band take the Gordon kilts for $55.00 a piece. The band has since taken to wear the Maitland Tartan which is also the official tartan of the “City of Fort Lauderdale” named after “Major William Lauderdale” of Clan Maitland, worn with permission from Deputy Ian Maitland of Clan Maitland.
You can pass most any person on the street and never suspect that that a human heart beating to the tempo of a pipe tune lies within. There are 25 men, women and young adults involved in developing the music with the Highlanders. About 70% of its members have been with the band for no more than eight years, 20% have supported their efforts for less than three years while the last 10% have fought the critics and remain because they enjoy the challenge of working as a committed unit. The Highlanders being a group of varied personalities helps to find a way to unify and develop a solid, expressive sound. It isn’t a surprise that it comes from people wanting to persist in working through barriers.
Nobody in their right mind is going to expose their uninitiated ability, but they’ll change their tune after they nail a few competitions. The band’s first roster included musicians whose names may now hold fond memories for some: Jim Black, Harry Collins, Bob Downing, Ken and Ron Hislop, Harry and John Murphy, John Richie and Jim Russell. In 1976, from the St. Andrews Pipe Band in the Miami area, George Gregg, retired Pipe Major of the Montreal Black Watch worked as an instructor and brought the performance level of that 1974 dance to a respectable level of play. George set about developing tunes appropriate for the Highlanders’ as a Grade 5 band. The bands first competition was the Dunedin Highland Games of 1978. They didn’t place in the upper ranks of the competition but the lesson learned was to “keep it simple”. In or around 1984, Bill Sloan left for Jacksonville, Florida turning his Pipe Major duties to a 21 year old, Bill McFarlane. Additions to the band’s roster had then included Mike Daly, Art Gill, Mark Williams and Kevin Murray.
Five years ago, Byron Hoffman became the bands’ 3rd Grade 4 Pipe Major. Byron returned to the band in 1987 after his start with Miami’s, St. Andrews Pipe Band. He speaks highly of the young talent that is currently refreshing the band’s performance. Byron mentions that although he enjoys pipe bands in their traditional roles, he hopes that future competitions will embrace the non-traditional variations of today’s music and finds a system where both styles may have a role at our competitive venues. Only time will tell.
The Fort Lauderdale Highlander’s is little more than a small-town pipe and drum band with the goals of larger dimensions. They haven’t had the sponsorship some bands have had to work with. These sponsorships are sometimes in the form of tuition applied to one of the various seats of knowledge within the piping world. Funding is earned by the core efforts of band members taking the small number of parades and private events that come to the band every year. The talent found within its own membership teaches the enthusiasm a pipe band needs to keep traditional Scottish piping alive. This is one reason the Fort Lauderdale Highlanders maintains an important part in its partnership to the Southern United States Pipe Band Association (SUSPBA). The best way to tell the public about The Fort Lauderdale Highlanders without causing national panic is through exposure.
Visit our website: http://www.ftlauderdalehighlanders.org/
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