Boy Scouts of America

[Thomas]

This Sunday when we went to church the Boy Scouts were there for Mass to celebrate the anniversary of Scouting. I was not a Scout or involved in them. I was wondering if they have a Pipe Band. I have never heared of one but thought i would be kind of nice to see them involved in piping.Does anyone know if any troops have a Pipe Band in this country?

[Drew McPheeters]

Originally posted by Thomas:
This Sunday when we went to church the Boy Scouts were there for Mass to celebrate the anniversary of Scouting. I was not a Scout or involved in them. I was wondering if they have a Pipe Band. I have never heared of one but thought i would be kind of nice to see them involved in piping.Does anyone know if any troops have a Pipe Band in this country?It would seem that it would be something worth investigating. Back in the day :wink: many, many drum and bugle corps were boy scout troops, and 2 of the top drum corps active today still maintain the association, through the Explorer Scout program. I believe there is some benefit in terms of being under the liability insurance umbrella of the organization.

Of course, these days that affiliation could cause you trouble, since the boy scout organization is targeted by various groups for some of it's moral views, and banned from many schools, and public facilities :bleh:

[Gary Speed]

If you are intrested in the Boy Scouts it is possible, for a pipe band to become an explorer unit of the BS, that can come in handy for things like insurance, for a very small fee I mean pennies per month per member it can be done.
Cheers
GS :cool:

[Iain Sherwood]

Quite a few bands are sponsored by or under the aegis of Scout Troops - saves all kinds of money, like incorporation fees, legal costs, and so on. You just have to go through their regs to do it.

[Rick James]

Back in the 70's there was a Boy Scout pipe band in San Francisco. I don't have any idea what happened to them - I guess they grew up :D

Sometime in the 80's our band was designated as an explorer post for a while. We even had Boy Scout shirts to wear with our kilts with our post number on them. We played at a few Scout-a-rama events, which was okay. But the good thing was we were able to recruit students out of the local troops. We ended up with pretty nice drum line for a while from this.

Might be worth exploring...

[Iain Sherwood]

They're called Prince Charles, which has been an Explorer post since its inception.

[Rick James]

Originally posted by Iain Sherwood:
They're called Prince Charles, which has been an Explorer post since its inception.Okay, I know Prince Charles and I know the Black Stewart tartan they wear. This band was wearing Royal Stewart with kaki boy scout shirts and tartan neckerchiefs. They were also quite young and short. If that band was attached to Prince Charles, are they still playing? They looked good in their boy scout uniforms. Or do they wear the PCPB uniforms now?

[EagleJCS]

Having "grown up" in Scouting here in the Louisville, KY area (now 24 of my 32 years), I have not known of a Scout troop or Explorer post associated with a band of any type in this council, or our neighboring councils. Then, of course, Louisville hasn't had much of a piping history until recently. Various incarnations of the current Louisville Pipe Band (http://www.louisvillepipeband.com/) (a HOF WSOY winner! :thumb: ) have only been in existence since the late 1970's to early 1980's.

It may be possible to start a Venturing Post with a focus on piping (Venturing is a new program in the Boy Scouts of America for youth ages 14-21 - both boys & girls - with a focus on youth leadership and outdoor activities). If a band is interested, the PM (or a designee) should contact their local council office.

[HepcatBob]

Last night, I heard of one in eastern North Carolina. I believe their name is 'Cape Fear Highlanders'.