The Black Tusk Caledonia Pipes and Drums ensemble needs a home. The band, originally founded in 1979 as the Squamish Kinsman Pipe Band, currently has no space to practise, and that is putting the band in a precarious position, according to band member Devin Biln.
The group’s most recent home, the West Coast Railway Heritage Park, allowed it to use the convention space, Biln said, but park staff recently told the band with so many events at the park over the winter, the band will not be able to practise there at all.
“So as of right now we have no space,” said Biln, who joined the pipe band about a decade ago.
The band has 20 members, and 12 to 15 of them are involved on a consistent basis, Biln said. When the band has regular space, it gets together once a week on Wednesday evenings, but it has been practising less regularly due to a lack of a reliable space.
“This last month, we were only able to get two practices in,” he said.
Biln said many organizations over the years have been good to the band, providing space in their facilities, but as Squamish grows and facilities either are replaced or become more consistently occupied, the band has had to move on.
Previously, the band met at the Squamish Legion and then Elks halls, both facilities that no longer exist. For two years the band practised at the Code Blue Night Club, which is also no longer around. The senior space above the ice rink was also a temporary home until it was renovated.
The pipe ensemble has been a mainstay of Squamish events for decades. The pipers take part in Remembrance Day events, Canada Day parades in both Squamish and Whistler, the Squamish Days Loggers Sports Festival parade, the Whistler Cup Junior Ski Race, the Brackendale Fall Fair, Squamish and District Labour Committee Day of Mourning, Quest University convocation and graduation ceremonies, the Mt. Garibaldi Lodge Burns Supper, council swearing-in ceremonies, and various other private events, Biln said.
The group doesn’t charge to perform in public events, such as the parades.
The bands numbers have been dwindling, according to Biln, in part because it is too hard for people to commit to an always-changing schedule.
“Mostly just the disruption in the routine. When you know it is every week in the same time and the same place it is easy to keep that on your calendar and keep showing up,” he said, adding some former Squamish residents used to travel back from the city to practise with the band, but without committed dates to get together, they have dropped out.
If the band was to dwindle down further to a shadow of its former self or fold up altogether the heritage, tradition and ceremony of the events would also be lost, Biln said.
“The band has a very specific purpose – it is to provide ceremony to various events,” he said.
The band can’t afford to pay much for space, Biln acknowledged. A set of bagpipes costs members $1,200 to $2,000 each and the band supplies uniforms for members at a cost of $2,500 each, he said.
“I am not going to say we would never pay for space, but it is not going to be sustainable for us to pay a market rent of a hall. We just don’t make enough,” he said.
For the time being, the band is gathering at a member’s house, but they can’t use their full bagpipes because they are too loud, Biln said.
