Annual Reports2014

EASTERN UNITED STATES PIPE BAND ASSOCIATION

Annual Reports

Saturday, November 8, 2014 Renaissance Cleveland Hotel Cleveland, OH

President’s Report ...... 4 Vice President’s Report on Fair Hill ...... 5 Treasurer’s Report ...... 5 Executive Secretary’s Report ...... 8 EUSPBA Annual General Meeting Minutes Nov. 9, 2013 Newark, NJ ...... 9 Membership Coordinator ...... 13 Music Board Report ...... 15 The Voice ...... 15 Florida Branch Report ...... 16 Metro Branch ...... 18 Mid Atlantic Branch ...... 18 Northeast Branch ...... 22 Ohio Valley Branch ...... 23 Southern Branch ...... 23 Southwest Branch ...... 24 2013 EUSPBA Annual General Meeting Proposals and Actions ...... 25

President’s Report I have really enjoyed the final year of my term as president of the EUSPBA. It has been excellent to hear the standard of the bands and solo players doing so well. It was great to see the successes of both our solo players and bands over in Scotland this past summer.

In February, the EC held a meeting at the Metro Cup weekend in Newark, NJ. It was a great weekend with excellent exchange of ideas and plans. Part of this weekend was a special conference with all branch chairs. This meeting was used to foster discussion from each branch with ideas on improving activity and events within the branches. There was a great discussion about the branch financial management and funding. The goal of all this has been to improve the efficiency and ease of fostering branch activity and financial management. A project that as been a big focus is improving technology integrations for our association. We have continued to explore and integrate electronic elections in the branches. This has improved participation and cut costs greatly. It is my hope that the bylaw change will pass to allow for this process to be integrated for EC elections moving forward.

We began making a move to a new web site a year ago. Tom Crawford researched several options and solicited proposals. The EC approved a bid from Sol Tec to complete the website and improve the way we administrate the business of the EUSPBA. This project will upgrade the technology infrastructure of the association and pave the way for new advancements. To fund this project, the EC approved to close out one of our two CD's. Due to a steady loss of income each year, caused by relatively steady income and increased expenses annually, we approved a dues increase for 2014. This resulted in a stabilization of the normal operations budget for 2014.

June Hanley and her Music Board team has continued to do a great job on behalf of our members. I applaud her continued efforts with adjudicator training.

A big funding project for 2014 was the grade 2 bands contest at Fair Hill Games. For this contest, the association and the Fair Hill Games committee worked together to pool resources to bring all our grade 2 bands together early in the season and to bring RSPBA adjudicator, Joe Noble, to judge the contest. Joe also did a presentation to the judges' panel as part of this trip. This was a great success thanks to the efforts of Dan Cole, Matt Wood, and David Bailiff.

One upcoming rule change that has had much discussion between the EC and Music Board all year is the expansion of the grade 4 MiniMSR. The goal of this rule change is to expand the set to be compatible with the RSPBA musical requirements. At the same time, there is a continued concern with the widening gap between grade 4 and grade 5 bands.

Respectfully submitted.

Eric MacNeill

Vice President’s Report on Fair Hill

To be presented at the meeting

Treasurer’s Report

Nov 1, '13 - Nov 1, 14 Nov 1, '12 - Nov 1, 13 $ Change % Change Ordinary Income/Expense Income Membership Dues 96,657.32 0.00 96,657.32 100.0% 4050.00 · Membership Dues 2,907.62 95,485.05 -92,577.43 -96.96% 4090.00 · Other Income 4090.20 · Advertising Fees 650.00 350.00 300.00 85.71% 4090.00 · Other Income - Other 380.00 395.00 -15.00 -3.8% Total 4090.00 · Other Income 1,030.00 745.00 285.00 38.26%

Total Income 100,594.94 96,230.05 4,364.89 4.54%

Expense 5010.00 · Exec. Expenses 5010.10 · Exec Travel 5,289.62 3,013.42 2,276.20 75.54% 5010.20 · Exec. Accommodation 3,747.77 2,627.11 1,120.66 42.66% 5010.30 · Exec Meeting Room 0.00 780.00 -780.00 -100.0% 5010.40 · Exec per Diem 1,754.20 1,184.02 570.18 48.16% 5010.60 · Exec. Conf. Line 468.00 468.00 0.00 0.0% Total 5010.00 · Exec. Expenses 11,259.59 8,072.55 3,187.04 39.48%

5030.00 · Music Commitee 5030.10 · Music Travel 1,096.60 3,816.94 -2,720.34 -71.27% 5030.20 · Music Accomodations 3,467.75 2,432.80 1,034.95 42.54% 5030.30 · Music Meeting Rooms 0.00 10.65 -10.65 -100.0% 5030.40 · Music per Diem 473.58 783.63 -310.05 -39.57% 5030.50 · judges seminar lecturers 0.00 300.00 -300.00 -100.0% 5030.60 · Progressive Certification 0.00 64.80 -64.80 -100.0% 5030.70 · Music Supplies/copies, etc 636.05 0.00 636.05 100.0% 5030.00 · Music Commitee - Other 4,632.94 3,595.72 1,037.22 28.85% Total 5030.00 · Music Commitee 10,306.92 11,004.54 -697.62 -6.34%

5040.00 · AGM 5040.10 · AGM Travel 3,082.75 237.80 2,844.95 1,196.36% 5040.20 · AGM Accomodations 4,116.60 0.00 4,116.60 100.0% 5040.30 · AGM Meeting Room 3,616.88 0.00 3,616.88 100.0% 5040.40 · AGM per Diem 1,875.00 0.00 1,875.00 100.0% 5040.00 · AGM - Other 430.01 0.00 430.01 100.0% Total 5040.00 · AGM 13,121.24 237.80 12,883.44 5,417.76%

5050.00 · Branch Funding 5050.10 · Funding - Northeast 185.00 2,400.00 -2,215.00 -92.29% 5050.20 · Funding - Metro 1,291.95 0.00 1,291.95 100.0% 5050.30 · Funding - Midlantic 1,000.00 1,000.00 0.00 0.0% 5050.40 · Funding - South 0.00 2,000.00 -2,000.00 -100.0% 5050.00 · Branch Funding - Other 0.00 250.00 -250.00 -100.0% Total 5050.00 · Branch Funding 2,476.95 5,650.00 -3,173.05 -56.16%

5060.00 · Contract Fee 5060.10 · Membership Coordinator 7,100.00 7,100.00 0.00 0.0% 5060.20 · Sanctioner 2,550.00 3,500.00 -950.00 -27.14% 5060.30 · Rusults Posting 2,000.00 3,250.00 -1,250.00 -38.46% 5060.40 · Executive Secretary 7,500.00 5,000.00 2,500.00 50.0% Total 5060.00 · Contract Fee 19,150.00 18,850.00 300.00 1.59%

5070.00 · Insurance 1,215.00 2,346.00 -1,131.00 -48.21% 5080.00 · The Voice 5080.10 · Publishing Fee 16,560.15 20,165.72 -3,605.57 -17.88% 5080.20 · Postage 6,374.57 1,043.92 5,330.65 510.64% 5080.30 · Editor Fee 11,900.00 14,950.00 -3,050.00 -20.4% Total 5080.00 · The Voice 34,834.72 36,159.64 -1,324.92 -3.66%

5090.00 · Monitor Fees 5,660.00 5,570.00 90.00 1.62% 7010.00 · Computer 7010.40 · Website 4,965.00 4,794.00 171.00 3.57% 7010.50 · New Website 2014 20,144.81 0.00 20,144.81 100.0% 7010.00 · Computer - Other 1,230.00 64.19 1,165.81 1,816.19% Total 7010.00 · Computer 26,339.81 4,858.19 21,481.62 442.17%

7100.00 · Bank Fees 7100.10 · Safe Deposit 125.00 0.00 125.00 100.0% 7100.00 · Bank Fees - Other 224.35 0.00 224.35 100.0% Total 7100.00 · Bank Fees 349.35 0.00 349.35 100.0%

7160.00 · Contributions 2,000.00 2,100.00 -100.00 -4.76% 7380.00 · Copying 0.00 511.61 -511.61 -100.0% 7390.00 · Office Supplies 1,109.95 638.00 471.95 73.97% 7430.00 · Postage 4,377.94 1,836.54 2,541.40 138.38% 7440.00 · Mail Service 880.00 710.00 170.00 23.94% 7510.00 · Printing 7510.01 · Printing Awards 430.01 144.83 285.18 196.91% 7510.02 · Printing Scoresheets 4,360.00 4,190.00 170.00 4.06% 7510.03 · Printing for AGM 551.29 0.00 551.29 100.0% 7510.00 · Printing - Other 230.83 222.17 8.66 3.9% Total 7510.00 · Printing 5,572.13 4,557.00 1,015.13 22.28%

7520 · Voting Expenses 2,830.48 4,667.62 -1,837.14 -39.36% 7610.00 · Awards 0.00 50.00 -50.00 -100.0% 7640 · PCP 0.00 1,102.34 -1,102.34 -100.0% 7690.00 · Miscellaneous -39.05 593.39 -632.44 -106.58% 7695.00 · Other 0.00 767.92 -767.92 -100.0% 7984.00 · Uncategorized Expenses 0.00 7,119.21 -7,119.21 -100.0% Total Expense 141,445.03 117,402.35 24,042.68 20.48%

Net Ordinary Income -40,850.09 -21,172.30 -19,677.79 -92.94%

Net Income -40,850.09 -21,172.30 -19,677.79 -92.94%

Current balances

Checking $14,403.28 CD $30,500.98 total assets $44,904.26

Respectfully Submitted Matthew Wood

Executive Secretary’s Report

We met once in person (at the metro) twice by the Internet, with all branch chairs, and the chair of the music board invited,

My office has been busy as usual with any executive secretary. New Member letters go out regularly as I receive the membership updates from Helen, these letters include their membership number and ask new members to confirm the email address we have for them. It’s not unusual for me to get email everyday with questions on rules, membership, and issues at games, requests for documents. Email is great, and the preferred method to contact not only myself but also others on the executive committee that we seek a simple quick answer to. Of course, this time of year is the busiest. Getting the ballots, notices for the AGM, membership renewals, printed and sent out, and getting in the regrade logged in and organized, as well as preparing the awards for printing can be a “part time” job.

The annual mailing did not go smoothly this year. Documents were printed differently than in previous years, resulting in too many pages for the mailer to use their machine to fold and stuff envelopes, this resulted in me sending out ballots to the patrons. We will seek alternative sources for next year. We are considering electronic mailing for next year, but that may be subject to the by-law ballot results. This would save considerable money, time and hopefully errors.

Those of you who sent in upgrade requests; I log each entry; the membership renewal and check gets sent to our membership coordinator and the request for upgrade go to the music board. The music board will meet in early December and send their recommendations to the executive committee. Announcements usually come out in early January. All people requesting upgrades will be notified before it is put on the web or sent to the Voice.

The Voice (our official publication) format, and content continues to improve. Thank you John. We are still considering a digital format for our publication, but are working out some of the details. We do have problems with the postal service, so if you miss an issue, please contact me and I will see that you get one.

The association was involved in what we call the Fair Hill project. Dan Cole will report in detail on this.

It has been a pleasure serving as your executive secretary. Respectfully Submitted, Sheldon C. Hamblin, Executive Secretary

EUSPBA Annual General Meeting Minutes Nov. 9, 2013 Newark, NJ

Called to Order by President Eric MacNeill – 9:25 a.m. 46 individuals and 26 band reps present. Dave Hall moved to accept 2011 AGM minutes from San Antonio (no minutes from 2012 because meeting canceled due to Superstorm Sandy). June – second Teri Weigand noted: Gordon took over after Roddy Macdonald left for medical reasons. She resigned from under Gordon. MOTION PASSED 7-0

President's Report Eric – EC, finance committee, music board have been meeting using Go-To Meetings online. Things running smoothly; excellent team. Lots of helpful participation at branch level, would like to see a few more active. June Hanley and Linda Hall continue to be excellent on MB and we are very appreciative of all their efforts. Started on technology upgrades. Tom Crawford will talk later about online registration. More in progress; a year from now we hope to have made much progress.

Treasurer's Report Matt — Uptick in income. Uptick in music board expenses. No AGM. Branch funding same. Contract fee up from posting errors. Insurance – made up for years not paid. Net income -14,000. Eric – Matt has spent a lot of time and effort to make job more user friendly for whoever might have job after him. The EC took long look at trends in association and as a result approved a slight dues increase for first time in at least 10 years. Cost of absolutely everything else has gone up; membership has stayed the same. Increased in order to not see bank acct. decline each year. Sheldon found email from committee of Maureen Connor and Jim Dillahey that noted: 200 bands X $175 = $35,000; 2000 members X 40 = $80,000 Dave Hall – How are we curbing expenses? $10,000 for AGM too much. Maureen – $10,000 for 2011 AGM was because it was in San Antonio – more expensive for travel. Dave suggested a committee to figure out where to cut. Dave offered to help with a committee but not chair it. Teri Weigand – What do we get for increase? Eric – judges, magazine, games results, branch that can offer events/activities.

Vice Presiden'ts Report Dan Cole – Election: Out of 2200 solo members and 180 bands we got 296 ballots. Suggest implementing online voting online ASAP. Fundraising committee – Proposal for a

professional piping competition open to all in world in which contestants submit a recording of MSR and HJ. May have entry fee of $50, for example. Winner would receive $10,000; donor already in place. We take top 12 recordings, remaster and sell on iTunes. All money raised through downloads goes to fund juvenile bands.

Membership Report Helen Harlow – In the past 5 years it's gone down 5 or 10 members each year. Expect we'll have increase because Southern US Pipe Band Association disbanded. Final numbers 1825 individual and 187 bands.

Music Board June Hanley – Written report sums up. Prospective ensemble judges apprenticing. Gordon Bell – PCP – 61 exams in piping and drumming so far. Would like to meet with branch chairs today to give info. Need more communication within the branches to get word out.

Voice John Bottomley – Improving with every issue. Streamlining between Matt Wood and me with advertising revenue and mail. Electronic version – We have some models out there – like Piping Times. A lot of our members, including me, want a magazine in hand. Younger don't.

Web Site Tom Crawford – Latest update is express renewal form on home page. Enter name and membership number, pay through Pay Pal (Matt noted no longer using Google because it shut down its payment system). No login required. Login issues were part of a test. Good news is 1600 people did sign up to have access to website[ bad news, they can't do anything with that. Working on developing new site, getting ideas on what we want. Need to make it mobile friendly, too.

BRANCH REPORTS Florida – Linda Quanstrom, secretary • Held three sanctioned games. Two more seeking sanctioning. See report. • Treasurer asked to resign. Branch account ran into fees due to neglect. New treasurer is Neil Lester. Teri Weigand asked exec committee to draft a letter to individual and have him account for negligence. She pesented written report to Matt of what happpened.

Metro – Jim Lee, chair • Jim – Welcomed everyone to Metro area. See report. Tried to do workshop last

year – 7 people signed up; canceled. Metro has most concentrated number of pipers and drummers in one area – are other branches experiencing this? Trying to do one in April in conjunction with pipe band so they can take some of the burden as well.

Mid-Atlantic – Helen Harlow reporting for absent new chair Mary Wallace • Electronic election for branch had 50 percent turnout. Usually less than 10 percent. • Eric – Successful Delco after it was in financial trouble.

Northeast – Maureen Connor • See report. • Would like to implement a chief steward team starting on branch level to improve games efficiency. • Treasurer was mortified he allowed some fees. We will not get refund but it has been fixed so no further charges. • Brendan O'Reilly pushed for electronic elections and we started it using Simply Voting out of Canada; this was second year. Thirty percent turnout. Fee for using elections but we can have multiple elections. Note: Votes are anonymous. Hiccups: There were a couple of duplicates. Some people didn't hit send. Ballots ended up in spam folders. Family of four voting with same ID. To do association wide, we need a system where every member registers online and we have their email. Eric noted all branches can use Simply Voting. Contact Brendan O'Reilly if interested. Will put something in the Voice about it.

Eric: Report about 11-8-13 EC meeting during which treasurer situation discussed. Difficulty when branch treasurers neglect duties, can't fulfill duties or move on and a new treasurer comes in. Noted Matt will look into opening 7 sub accounts off main body acct. and issuing 7 checkbooks so branches can have access to do things and Matt will have oversight. Should avoid a lot of recurring problems that happen with branch checking accounts.

Ohio Valley – Drew Duncan, chair • See report. • One registered tenor drummer in OV branch. Trying to increase tenor drumming, hold workshop. Also planning April band workshop. Looking for ways to get grade 2 bands at Ohio games.

Southern – Jim Dillahey, chair • Held workshop; lost money but worth it to get people involved. Will hold another one after the Sandy Jones Invitational and another in Atlanta. • Finances – $1,600 balance. Tom doing a good job as treasurer. • Communciation – Joe Brady has started southern branch network on Facebook.

Word out through website and facebook. Lot of lively and spirited discussion.

Southwest– Nancy Love, chair • Used e-voting – saved money on mailings and had 25-30 percent turnout. • Houston Highland Games returned. New event: Lousisana Renaissance Festival looking for sanctioning; 22 already signed up for solos. • Biggest challenge is holding contests and getting judges. • Will return to livestreaming branch AGM next year. Eric: Branch system works because each branch has different needs and circumstances that can best be handled by branch chairs and officers. Branch leadership training workshop will take place on the Sunday morning after the Metro Cup in February. Matt will discuss financial reporting and each branch will give a presentation on what they are doing and/or what they do best, to share with other branches.

Eric introduced new officers elected in 2012: Wayne Holscott, officer-at-large and Betsy Bethel-McFarland, recording secretary. First AGM since last year's was canceled. Noted last year's AGM proposals and actions taken are included in packet for attendees.

2013 Election Results Wayne Holscott reported in Dan Cole's brief absence that Sheldon and Matt were re-elected to executive secretary and treasurer positions, respectively, and officer-at-large Helen Harlow won re-election in contested race with Albert McMullin. Moment of silence led by Eric in memory of two past EUSPBA presidents who passed away since the last AGM: Roddy MacDonald and MacLean MacLeod.

DISCUSSION OF PROPOSALS began at 11:23 a.m.

Adjourned at 12:15 p.m. for lunch Resumed 1:37 p.m.

DISCUSSION OF PROPOSALS continued

Adjourned at 4:23 p.m.

Membership Coordinator

2014 AGM membership/sanction report submitted by Helen Harlow

Membership final 2014(Includes dual musicians)

Branch Piping Snare Tenor Bass Drum Major NC Patron Bands Totals Actuals Florida 82 23 14 12 4 1 4 12 152 140 Metro 153 28 7 10 6 13 4 27 248 228 Mid-Atlantic 245 45 21 12 9 17 7 24 380 345 Northeast 331 84 25 19 23 13 7 51 553 503 Ohio Valley 130 19 6 6 5 3 2 15 186 176 Southern 235 35 25 14 3 8 8 36 364 343 Southwest 109 23 13 7 0 2 1 8 163 146 Unaffiliated 22 3 0 0 0 5 30 30

Totals 1307 260 111 80 50 62 33 173 2076 1911

Actual Individual members 1738 bands 173 1911

Total Competitors by Grade

Professional Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4sr Grade 4Jr Grade 5 Totals Piping 92 81 111 300 565 130 28 1307 Snare 34 12 27 48 75 60 4 260 Professional Amateur 1 Amateur 2 Novice Totals Tenor 22 21 42 26 111 Bass 24 56 80 Drum Major 20 30 50 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 NC Totals Bands 5 15 51 100 2 173

Total Sanctioned Games 54

Total Result Posted 53

Additional information Branch Totals Sanctioned Games by Branch Florida 4 Metro 6 Mid-Atlantic 10 Northeast 13 Ohio Valley 3 Southern 11 Southwest 7 54

2014 Membership Breakdown by Branch, Discipline and Grade

Branch Piping Total Professional Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4sr Grade 4Jr Grade 5 Florida 3 3 7 15 36 13 4 81 Metro 6 12 18 42 62 14 0 154 Mid-Atlantic 23 17 12 54 106 26 7 245 Northeast 21 19 23 90 138 33 7 331 Ohio Valley 10 8 10 26 64 10 2 130 Southern 15 16 32 45 102 19 6 235 Southwest 6 4 8 23 52 14 2 109 Unaffiliated 8 2 1 5 5 1 22 92 81 111 300 565 130 28 1307 Branch Snare Total Professional Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4sr Grade 4Jr Grade 5 Florida 1 0 1 3 5 13 23 Metro 6 0 4 6 8 4 28 Mid-Atlantic 9 2 5 11 10 7 1 45 Northeast 14 4 9 16 25 15 1 84 Ohio Valley 1 2 2 3 7 3 1 19 Southern 2 3 6 2 11 10 1 35 Southwest 0 0 0 7 8 8 23 Unaffiliated 1 1 1 3 34 12 27 48 70 60 260 Branch Tenor Total Professional Amateur 1 Amateur 2 Novice Florida 3 7 4 14 Metro 2 1 2 2 7 Mid-Atlantic 5 4 8 4 21 Northeast 5 5 8 7 25 Ohio Valley 1 2 3 6 Southern 5 6 10 4 25 Southwest 1 3 4 5 13 Unaffiliated 22 21 42 26 111 Branch Bass Total Professional Amateur Florida 3 9 12 Metro 3 7 10 Mid-Atlantic 6 6 12 Northeast 8 11 19 Ohio Valley 1 5 6 Southern 2 12 14 Southwest 1 6 7 Unaffiliated 0 24 56 80 Branch Drum Major Total Professional Amateur Florida 2 2 4 Metro 3 3 6 Mid-Atlantic 4 5 9 Northeast 10 13 23 Ohio Valley 1 4 5 Southern 3 3 Southwest 0 Unaffiliated 0 20 30 50 Branch Bands Total Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 NC Florida 2 9 1 12 Metro 1 1 10 15 27 Mid-Atlantic 1 4 7 12 24 Northeast 1 4 12 33 1 51 Ohio Valley 1 0 5 9 15 Southern 4 14 18 36 Southwest 1 2 1 4 8 Unaffiliated 0 0 5 15 51 100 2 173

Music Board Report

The EUSPBA Music Board met on December 6 & 7, 2013. The purpose of this meeting was to handle all items referred to the Music Board from the 2013 AGM and to handle grading. Recommendations on AGM proposals and grading recommendations were sent to the Executive Committee for approval. Dave Hall and Scot Walker were asked to attend, and at the meeting were asked to join the Music Board. Both accepted.

Three judges’ seminar conference calls were held so far this year: · Wednesday, April 23 - Honing Analysis and Communication Skills: Tips for Newer Judges; Facilitator: Sandy Jones: 8 judges attended

· Thursday, April 24 - Judging the Mini MSR; Facilitators: Ed Krintz and John Bottomley: 4 judges attended

· Tuesday, April 29 - Piping for Drummers / Drumming for Pipers; Facilitators: June Hanley and Jon Quigg: 15 judges attended

A physical judges’ seminar was held May 18 in Newark, Delaware. Eight judges attended and four more attended via telephone for conference call attendance credit. Another physical seminar will be held here tomorrow and also Jimmy McIntosh is holding a piobaireachd seminar November 22 which has been approved for attendance credit.

The tenor and bass drum judges’ exam was given November 2 to two candidates by Linda Hall and Marc DuBois. The exams are currently being reviewed and the candidates will be notified shortly of the result.

Respectfully Submitted, Linda Hall, Secretary EUSPBA Music Board

The Voice The Voice has gone through a few struggles this year behind the scenes. For a period of time I was not getting billing done the way I should have. As a result advertising revenues were lost. I have established new systems for myself to prevent this occuring again, including creating a PayPal account so advertisers

can make payments directly instead of sending checks to the PO Box, which was creating huge delays.

On the other hand, I believe the Voice has continued to improve in editorial content in virtually every issue. I have to thank my contributors for their amazing input, and the membership at large has been great at coming up with article ideas as well.

There has been a lot of talk about digitizing the Voice; making it available as a pdf. This is something I am in favor of. I have made an inquiry to see what costs would be if we printed fewer issues (thanks to Patrick Regan for suggesting this) so we have a clearer idea of the money involved.

Florida Branch Report In reviewing the 2013 Annual report the following needs to be amended. There were three EUSPBA sanctioned games in Florida in 2013 Sarasota Highland Games and Celtic Festival, February 2, 2013 Northeast Florida Highland Games, February 23rd, 2013 Southeast Florida Highland Games, March 2, 2013 (Not Sarasota again as stated in the report)

The SUSPBA disbanded in 2013, see the notice from Marge Longphee, secretary below: Today, July 13, 2013, at the Annual General Meeting for SUSPBA, it was confirmed that SUSPBA will no longer be a valid association. All monies have been disbursed to member bands and games committees. Good Luck to all. The games sanctioned by them were Central Florida Highland Games, January 19 and 20, 2013 Dunedin Highland Games 2013, (date is uncertain, their games changes every year)

Also the treasurer resigned, but did not notify us of the issues with the checking account. That was discovered after his resignation. That is all for the corrections for the records.

For 2014, there were four EUSPBA sanctioned Florida Branch Games. Central Florida Highland Games, January 18 and 19, 2014 Sarasota Highland Games and Celtic Festival, February 1, 2014 Northeast Florida Highland Games, February 22, 2104 Southeast Florida Highland Games, March 1, 2014 The Dunedin Highland Games were run under the Southern Branch EUSPBA sanctioning even though they are located in Florida.

The officers of the EUSPBA Florida Branch are: Steve Serneels, Chair Neil Lester, Treasurer Linda Quanstrom, Secretary Teri Wiegand, Officer at Large (appointed)

The EUSPBA Florida Branch awards a trophy each year for the bands and they are as follows: Grade V receiving the PM Bruce Burt Trophy is the Tampa Bay Pipe Band Grade V Grade IV receiving the PM Roddy MacDonald Trophy is Harp and Thistle Pipe Band Grade IV Grade III receiving the PM Sandy Keith Trophy is City of Dunedin Pipe Band Grade III

As we do not have a checking account we do not have a treasury report. All checks are sent to the Treasurer for the main body and we have to submit request for payments.

We have a workshop planned for November 15 and 16, 2014 for piping and drumming. Jimmy McIntosh, Jimmy Bell, Tom Kee, Steve McClure and Neil Lester are scheduled to be the instructors. The Sarasota Military Academy has reduced their facility charge to us if we allow their piping and drumming students will attend without paying. This will be 20 students. As of this report our cut off is 10/31/2014 so the final numbers are not available. We went thru the process of having the workshop approved by the main body. This puts a lot more work on the treasurer Matt Wood as we do not have access to a checking account and we are not able to financially manage our branch activities, there is quite a delay in progress, depending on the chain of command and the various events that life has to offer. As an example making hotel accommodations, travel arrangements, etc. Let it be said we have not received any funding from the main body for the past three years.

The goal is to have more solo competitions and workshops separate from games and to offer a setting for the Progressive Certification Program and to follow the

mission statement of the EUSPBA. And look forward to our turn of hosting the EUSPBA AGM as it should be our turn next. Disney anyone?

Respectfully submitted by Teri Wiegand, Officer at Large in Steve Serneels, Chair stead

Metro Branch

Nothing submitted

Mid Atlantic Branch

First of all, I would like to apologize to branch members who may have sent me emails but did not get responses. I found out recently that a lot of email that was sent to [email protected] ended up in my Gmail spam folder. I have set up filters to help solve this problem and as of this writing I have addressed the issue with webmaster, Tom Crawford. For now, you should email me directly, [email protected], in order to get an immediate response.

I also brought this to The Voice editor, John Bottomley, so I can now receive notices for publication deadlines and provide Branch news in the timely manner which I intended.

As usual, the branch kicked off its year with the annual Delco Workshop, once again held at the Holiday Inn at Dulles Airport in Reston, Virginia, right outside of Washington, DC. Since this was the first time where I was in charge of the overall organization of the workshop, it turned out to be quite a learning experience. Once again the Gilchrist Challenge for Piobaireachd and the John Murray Juvenile Challenge for Snare Drum was held in conjunction with the Delco Workshop.

Because neither winner of the Gilchrist and the John Murray Juvenile Challenge took advantage of their prizes, the Branch EC will be determining what needs to be done with funds set aside for these prize winners.

A huge thank you to Henderson Imports, Ltd. for once again providing the door prizes at this year’s Delco Workshop. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the door prizes did not make it to the workshop and had to be mailed to the prize winners.

In addition to piping and drumming, for the first time, we offered a course for Scottish Smallpipes which turned out to be a huge success with 11 participants, two of whom were Gilchrist competitors. Bob Mitchell was our instructor and we will once again be hiring him to teach this course for the 2015 Delco Workshop.

The 2015 Delco Workshop will be held the weekend of February 6th to 8th, once again at the Holiday Inn at Dulles Airport. As of this writing, instructors are still being finalized. We also plan on once again holding the Gilchrist Challenge for Piobaireachd as well as the John Murray Juvenile Challenge for Piobaireachd.

While it was suggested that we try to find a venue that would be closer to DC so that participants and their families have more options, it was determined that for cost-effectiveness of the Delco Workshop, the Holiday Inn at Dulles was the best option at this time.

Once again we held branch elections using electronic ballot. Both Rena Toomey (Secretary) and Helen Harlow (Officer at Large)- whose respective positions were up for election this year- ran unopposed; however there were four write-in votes for the Officer at Large position. There was a total of 250 votes with three abstentions. According to the statistics, this amounted to 52% of the branch voting. Because of the success of the past few years- along with elimination of mailing costs- of using the electronic ballot, we will most likely continue to use this format for our branch elections.

Several of our soloists have had very successful seasons both here at home and abroad. Some of our soloists’ achievements are listed below:

Andrew Carlisle: Third in both the Piobaireachd and MSR at the USPF, third in the MacCrimmon Trophy Competition at the Festival Interceltique (Lorient), third in the Piobaireachd at the Festival Interceltique (Lorient), along with winning the World Pipe Band Championship with Field Marshal Montgomery.

Andrew Donlon: Fourth in the Silver Medal at Winter Storm, second in the MSR at Lochaber, third in the Open March at Perth, first in the C- Grade Piobaireachd at Perth.

Sean Regan: Second overall points in Grade 1 standings; Invites to both the Nicol-Brown and George Sherriff;Tthird in Piobaireachd at the Nicol- Brown.

Mary Wallace: Overall winner George Bell Amateur Competition at the Metro Cup (second in Piobaireachd, third in MSR); Third in Senior

Amateur Piobaireachd at the North American Championships (held at the Glengarry Highland Games, Maxville, Ontario)

William Shropshire: Second in Senior Amateur Piobaireachd at the North American Championships

Andrew Chalfoun: Third in Grade 1 Strathpey/Reel and Sixth in Grade 1 March at the North American Championships.

Kathleen Brown: Fifth in Grade 1 6/8 March and fifth in the Grade 1 Strathspey/Reel at the North American Championships

Jeremiah Whitney: Winner Grade 3 Snare Drumming at the North American Championships (accompanist, Mary Wallace)

Matthew Niblock: Third place, Grade 3 Snare Drumming at the North American Championships (accompanist, Jacob Loughlin)

Jacob Loughlin: Third in Grade 2 Jig and third in Grade 2 Strathspey/ Reel at the North American Championships.

Harry Meade: Sixth place in Professional Snare MSR at the North American Championship (accompanist, Mary Wallace)

Dawn Meade: Fourth place in Amateur Rhythm Tenor at the North American Championship (accompanists, Mary Wallace on pipes, Harry Meade on Snare)

Congratulations are in order for the Mid-Atlantic Bands who traveled to compete internationally with success. They are as follows:

MacMillan Pipe Band (Grade 3): Second place at the North American Championships (held at the Glengarry Highland Games, Maxville, Ontario); Winner, Montreal Highland Games.

Ulster Scottish Pipe Band: Fourth place at the North American Championships.

Overall it has been a stellar year for Mid-Atlantic Branch bands, soloists, and for the branch as a whole. Moving into 2015, I plan on using the lessons I learned as Branch Chair and continue to help make improvements for the branch as whole.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Wallace

Mid-Atlantic Branch Treasurer’s Report

Jan - Dec 14 Income 43400 · Direct Public Support 43410 · EUSPBA Contributions 1,500.00 43440 · Gifts in Kind - Goods 400.00 43450 · Individ, Business Contributions 665.00 Total 43400 · Direct Public Support 2,565.00

47200 · Program Income 47240 · Program Service Fees 47241 · Novice Piper 1,700.00 47242 · Intermediate Piper 1,990.00 47243 · Advanced Piper 1,890.00 47245 · Novice Snare 500.00 47246 · Intermediate Snare 870.00 47247 · Novice Tenor 760.00 74248 · Intermediate Tenor 510.00 47249 · Bass Drummer 200.00 47251 · Smallpiper 1,010.00 47260 · PCP Exam 25.00 Total 47240 · Program Service Fees 9,455.00

Total 47200 · Program Income 9,455.00

Total Income 12,020.00

Expense 62100 · Contract Services 4,200.00 62800 · Facilities and Equipment 1.29 64000 · Prizes 568.54 65000 · Operations 65030 · Printing and Copying 77.53 65040 · Supplies 11.12 Total 65000 · Operations 88.65

68300 · Travel and Meetings 68310 · Conference, Convention, 2,829.05

Meeting 68320 · Lodging 1,964.34 68330 · Meals 551.26 68340 · Travel 1,713.85 Total 68300 · Travel and Meetings 7,058.50

Total Expense 11,916.98

Net Income 103.02

Northeast Branch Northeast Branch Officers are: Maureen Connor, Chair Brendan O’Reilly, Secretary Andrew Adams, Treasurer

On Friday September 19, 2014 the Northeast Branch held it’s Annual Branch Meeting which was attended by over 15 NE Branch members who came out to listen and discuss their ideas for improvement.

Elections were held for Treasurer and Andrew Adams was re-elected. The elections were held electronically and coordinated by Brendan O’Reilly. Brendan has continued to support other branches in the implementation of electronic elections.

Monitor Coordinator---We still need a Monitor Coordinator for the NE Branch.

Sanctioned Competitions—The Northeast Branch host EUSPBA Sanctioned Competitions from the first Saturday in January through mid-October.

Our plans for 2015 inlcude:

--NE Branch Summit of Contest Organizers and Pipe Majors/Bands

Cheers Maureen Connor NE Branch Chair

Ohio Valley Branch

This past year we added a series of tenor workshops and a piping workshop. We continued to make use of our Facebook page as a means of communication. We are also looking forward to making use of the new EUSPBA webpage as an effective way to reach our membership. We held our AGM on September 13, 2014. At the AGM we decided to continue with our workshops. We are also working with David Flaherty and Patrick Regan to incorporate a competition in conjunction with our workshop.

We plan to continue to foster positive growth and cooperation within the Ohio Valley and the EUSPBA as a whole while promoting education, competition and further development of the Scottish Arts.

Submitted by : Andrew J. Duncan Ohio Valley Branch Chair

Southern Branch Meetings, Discussions, Announcements, etc.

January - July: • Nothing to Report

August: • Held Branch Officer Meeting to discuss 2014 AGM, Elections, and Requests for Branch Financial Support

September: • AGM – Report provided separately

October: • Executed Branch elections on-line from 17 October – 27 October o Bill Caudill voted in as Branch Chairman. o Andrew Kerr voted in as Branch Treasurer. o Peter Armstrong voted in as Branch Secretary

Southwest Branch

Chair—Nancy Love Secretary—Rosemary John Treasurer—Patrick McLaurin Officer At Large—Pam Rossi

Highlights of the year: --Congratulations to the St. Thomas Alumni Pipe Band of Houston, TX, on their 6th place finish in Grade 2 at the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland – the highest final placement of any U.S. band competing in any grade at the championships!!! --Branch secretary, Rosemary John, launched the branch newsletter. We are all looking forward to future issues, improved communication, and interaction of branch members!

Branch Activities since AGM 2013--The Southwest Branch members had the opportunity to attend several competitive and educational events within our branch borders, this past year: --Louisiana Renaissance Festival Solo Piping competition, Hammond, LA, Nov. 16. (Judges Patrick Regan, John Recknagel). This was the inaugural year for this competition, held at a permanent Renaissance festival venue during their “Celtic Weekend”. A great opportunity to compete in the solos just before storming the castle gates as a massed band!

--Black Bexar Pipe Band, San Antonio Annual Piping and Drumming Workshop, March 1-2. (Instructors Donald McBride, Scott MacLeod, Bob Richardson, Stephen Cameron) --San Antonio Highland Games Solo Piping Competition, April 5-6. Judge Nancy Tunnicliffe held a “Piper’s Choice” seminar each afternoon of the games. --Lyon College Arkansas Scottish Festival and Celtic Concert, April 11-13. (Judges Ed Krintz, Ed Neigh, Calum MacDonald, Tommy Kee). Band competition returned to the festival this year, adding to the solo piping and drumming, Highland dance, and poetry contests. --Houston Celtic Festival Highland Games, April 26-27. (Judges Jimmy Bell, Ken Eller, Jimmy Stack, Gordon Bell). Solo piping and drumming, and a band contest that is always fun and challenging! --Lyon College Celtic Arts Summer School, Batesville, AR, June 15-20. (Instructors Willie McCallum, Jimmy Bell, Kenton Adler, Jon Quigg, and Tim Britton). This year, the school added classes in uilleann pipes, whistle, and reed- making. --Red Stick Regional Solo Piping and Drumming competition, Baton Rouge, LA, July 23. (Judges Ed Krintz, Iain Macey, Ed Best). Ed Best conducted a drumming workshop the afternoon of the competition. --Southwest Branch AGM, New Orleans, LA, Sept. 6. In our second successful use of electronic voting, Patrick McLaurin was re-elected as treasurer. --Austin Piping and Drumming competition, October 11. (Judges Ed Neigh, Patrick Regan, Andrew Hoinacki). This competition offered fun mini-band and quartet competitions! --Louisiana Renaissance Festival Solo Piping and Drumming contest, November 15. (Judges Patrick Regan, James Nisbet, Ed Best). The organizer of this unusual and wonderful competition, Steve Brownlee, added drumming this year and hopes to continue expanding the contest offerings.

Treasurer’s Report submitted by Patrick McLaurin, Southwest Branch Treasurer Balance, November 2013 $279.42 Bank fees $ 18.00 Balance at Account Close, Oct. 2014 $261.42

2013 EUSPBA Annual General Meeting Proposals and Actions

1. Rule Change We propose that instead of being limited to hiring 4 judges per contest, that a contest organizer may hire as many judges as he or she see’s fit. Submitted by the Metro branch This was killed on the floor. 2. 2. Rule Change We propose that a grade 4 band shall be able to challenge up to Grade 3 at a contest provided they can provide a full MSR to be played and pay the appropriate fee’s for that contest. Submitted by the Metro Branch Withdrawn on the floor. 3. 3. Rule change We propose eliminating the full Piobaireachd for Grade 4 and changing it to the ground and 1st variation . Submitted by the Metro Branch Action: Clarify to the games that they are encouraged to offer full and ground only. 4. 4. Rule Change Limit the tuning time of all solo piping competitions in the rules to 4 minutes for piobaireachd, 4 minutes for MSR and 3 minutes for march, s&r, h&j or jig. Submitted by the Mid Atlantic Branch Action: Put something in the rulebook that makes it clear judges can disqualify 5. 5. Rule Change Increase the March, Strathspey and Reel playing requirements of Grade 4 pipe bands to comply with the RSPBA Grade 4A requirements of 4 parts of 2/4 march, two 2-parted strathspeys and two 2-parted reels. Submitted by the Mid Atlantic Branch Action: This is being changed in 2015 6. 6. Rule Change Change the playing requirements of the Grade 3 Medley competition from 3-5 minutes to 3-6 minutes. Submitted by the Mid Atlantic Branch Action: killed on the floor. 7. Bands shall compete only in their assigned grades, except as follows: Grade 3 bands permitted to challenge Grade 2 bands, and Grade 2 bands permitted to challenge Grade 1 bands, provided they meet all of the requirements of the higher grade for that day’s contest and that they enter the contest for the higher grade.” Submitted by the Mid Atlantic Branch Action: leave the rule as it is, but word the sanctioning packet so that the games has the option of awarding only the higher of the monetary prize. 8. Remove the “spring” and “fall” references from the “school band member rule” to allow school band members to compete with two bands on any given day, regardless of the time in the school year. Each band would be allowed to have three school band members—one for piping, one for snare drumming and one for mid-section. Submitted by the Mid Atlantic Branch Action: withdrawn on the floor. 9. Rule Change: Amend the Playing Instructor Rule to allow both a snare drumming AND a mid-section playing instructor Submitted by Mid Atlantic Action: Killed on the floor 10. Duplicate rule change from above 11. Duplicate rule change from above 12. Duplicate rule change from above

13. Rule Change: Create Novice Bass Drum Competitions. Submitted by the Northeast Branch Action: approved by the EC 14. Rule Change Align all Solo Bass Drum competition requirement with Solo Tenor Drum requirements. Submitted by the Northeast Branch Action: approved by the EC. 15. Rule Change Create a new classification of Grade 3 Senior. Submitted by the Ohio Valley Branch Killed on the floor 16. Rule Clarification of contest Rules for Drum Major Competitions. Submitted by the Northeast Branch Action: EC approved new Drum Major Rules and Scoresheets. 17. Policy Encourage Highland Games to run combined Grade 1 and Grade 2 competitions (such as at Loon Mtn in 2011), and combined Grade 2 and Grade 3 competitions (such as at Fair Hill in 2013). Submitted by Mid Atlantic Withdrawn on the floor 18. Policy Encourage Highland Games to run both March, Strathspey and Reel AND Medley Selection competitions for Grades 1, 2 and 3. Submitted by the Mid Atlantic Branch Action: Eric will encourage games to do same through the Voice. 19. Policy Place on the EUSPBA website guidelines of competition and performance etiquette for solo competitors. Perhaps an educational / demonstration video of “how to compete.” Submitted by Mid Atlantic Branch Action: EC believed that between the article in the Voice, and the document on the website this is covered. Item closed. 20. Policy Raise the prize money offered for professional solo drumming competitions to match that awarded to solo piping light music competitions. Submitted by Mid Atlantic Branch Action: Dan Cole has reached out to the games to address the disparity.

21. Policy The Association should invest in its best young pipers and drummers by the means of travel scholarships to Scotland. Submitted by Mid Atlantic Branch Action: Killed on the floor due to lack of funding. 22. Policy EUSPBA to liaise with the Metro Branch to ensure that the best pipers within the Association are invited to compete at The Metro Cup. The EUSPBA should also be funding these pipers’ expenses while representing our association against the best pipers in the world. Submitted by Mid Atlantic Branch Action: Killed due to lack of funding

23. Policy The Association should strongly encourage all Highland Games to hold professional competitions. In particular, Friday evening competitions before Highland Games. Submitted by Mid Atlantic Branch Action: EC and MB will will together to help make this happen.

24. Music board A “Senior Adjudicators” list should be compiled and implemented: Only Senior Judges will be allowed to judge professional competitions. Only Senior Pipe Band Judges will be allowed to judges Grade 1 and 2 competitions. Submitted by Mid Atlantic Branch Action: Music board working on this. 25. Music Board: There shall be at least one representative from each branch of the EUSPBA serving on the music board. Submitted by the Ohio Valley Branch Action: Killed on the floor.