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(Lander, WY) – The Lander Volunteer Fire Department Pipe Band will be having a fundraiser concert on Saturday, April 29, 6:00 PM, at the Lander Valley High School auditorium.
The band hopes to meet the fundraising goal of $5,500 at this event, so tickets will be available for the suggested donation of $10 per person, with a $50 max for families.
Funds raised go toward instruments, lessons, uniforms, reeds, drumsticks and travel costs.
Pipe Band History:
The LVFD Pipe Band was formed in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. There was an effort across North America to honor those who died in those attacks. The band had already been practicing at the Lander, WY fire hall for other group performances. The North American Pipe Band Association (ANAPBA) led an effort to have all bands across the continent to play in memory of the lives lost on 9/11. The band played at this event in Lander’s City Park. After that October 11, 2001 memorial event, the band became formalized.
Since then, the band has performed at 100’s of memorial events for first responders and veterans throughout Central Wyoming.
We are a community pipe band that strives to provide the highest quality music possible. Therefore, we also compete in band and solo contests and we participate in pipe band workshops to improve our quality of music. The LVFD Pipe Band is a Non-profit 501c-3 entity under the LVFD Association.
Pipe Band Mission:
To uphold the musical traditions of Scotland by providing high quality pipe and drum band music to our community while also passing on the values and traditions of the fire service. The Lander Volunteer Fire Department (LVFD) Pipe Band fulfills its mission by 1) teaching beginners, 2) supporting our local firefighters, law enforcement officers, and members of the military by playing music at their events and 3) performing at other events in the community.
Pipe Band Fundraising:
- The band’s total fundraising goal for 2023 is $5,500. Below is a list of the LVFD Pipe Band’s primary expenses.
- Equipment: Drum heads, reeds, “loaner” bagpipes for beginners, new drums as needed. The band’s fundraising goal for equipment in 2023 is $1000 (for a set of loaner bagpipe)
- Uniforms: Kilt, Sporran, hose, shoes, belt, shirt, tie, Glengarry (hat). The band plans to pay for new uniforms in 2023 with existing funds.
- Weekly/Biweekly online instruction for drummers. The band goal for 2023 is to raise $2000 to continue with online drumming lessons through Dec 31, 2023.
- Professional Development: Scholarships for attending Piping Hot Summer Drummer. The band’s specific goal for 2023 is to offer at least five $500 scholarships, a total of $2500, to youth band members to attend Piping Hot Summer Drummer.
- Travel expenses to performances. The band hopes to defray these costs in 2023 by earning prize and travel money in the upcoming (May 13-14, 2023) pipe band contest at the Grand Valley Highland Games in Grand Junction, Colorado.
More About the Pipe Band:
The band’s pipers learn in-person or online from the band’s Pipe Major, award-winning piper Melissa Bautz, at no charge. Melissa is top prize-winning soloist and has 37 years of experience with playing and teaching the great Highland Bagpipe.
- The band’s snare drummer take online lessons from World Class Snare Instructor, Blair Brown.
- The band’s tenor and bass drummers take online lessons from World Class Bass and Tenor instructor, Christina Henry.
- When the band members come together at practice, they implement new techniques learned from their instructors.
- Band members solidify what they learn from weekly lesson into performance quality music by participating in:
- Veterans and First Responder Memorials (and other events as requested)
- Pipe Band and Solo Contests around Western North America (Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and British Columbia)
- International Solo Contests (online)
- Concerts (Bear Trap Meadows, Casper College, State Firefighter Convention) o Individual and small-group performances
- Professional Development:
- Wyoming has exactly one competition level pipe band: That is, the LVFD Pipe Band.
- While this is an impressive achievement in the State with the lowest population in the nation, it is imperative that the pipe band members are exposed to the highest level instruction whenever possible.
- To ensure that the LVFD Pipe Band members don’t become “big fish in a small pond”, the band encourages all band members to occasionally attend high level piping and drumming workshops.
- The premiere piping and drumming workshop in western North America is Piping Hot Summer Drummer (www.phsd.net). PHSD is held in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, east of the Okanagan valley. It is taught by the world’s best instructors. Band members attended PHSD in 2016 and 2019. With the addition of five (5) new youth band members since 2019, it is now (2023) time to send the newest band members to Piping Hot Summer Drummer once again.
Click here to learn even more about and keep up to date with the Pipe Band, and check out some photos below of the band in action!
