Catching my breath after a busy Remembrance Week

St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, West Vancouver Remembrance Service.

I played on the beaches, on the land, at sea, hospitals and senior homes.  It was a busy Remembrance week in the Lower Mainland of BC.

As usual, I was the piper at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club 8-Bells service at sea on Nov. 11. This is an 80-year old solemn event for lost members from both wars that draws a large number of current club members to pay their respects. Bugler Ron Toth and I have been playing “The Last Post” and “The Lament” for almost 10-years for the club which takes this event very seriously.  Unfortunately, this year we were joined by someone else in a small zodiac floating nearby, playing an unrecognizable jumble of notes on a very out-of-tune bagpipe.  A very disrespectful display that was commented upon by a number of the officials (city, navy, police and emergency services, club executives) attending the event.

I played at a number of senior homes and for a memorial on the beach at Kitsilano.  And I wrapped up the week with old friends at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in West Vancouver.  I have been a guest of this congregation for many years, and it is a joy to play along with Annabelle Paetsch, the organist who adds so much to the St. Stephen’s church services.

I wrapped up Remembrance Day with a few more tunes (and a drink or two) with friends at Legion 263 in Coquitlam. This legion has been my practice-hall for 10-years and it’s always great to play for their members and guests on Remembrance Day. The Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band performed earlier in the day, and were part of the march to the cenotaph earlier in the morning (while I was ‘at sea’).

And before I go, one last photo, from the other side of the country.  The firefighter in the front right of this photo is my oldest brother, Bill Chisholm, chief of the Antigonish Volunteer Fire Department, paying his respects to our veterans (like our father) and the fallen at the Remembrance Day service in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Chief Bill Chisholm (front rt) with the Antigonish Volunteer Fire Fighters Corps. (Bill Pellerin Photo)