I had a brief conversation with Mr. John Cuthill at the last Knockout after I'd mangled his introduction by suggesting that his first name was "Mr.". We were talking about this Newsletter and the fact that the issue you are currently reading is the 40th year of publication. I mentioned that 40 years is really not all that long in the "grand scheme of things", but that it also seems, paradoxically, to be quite a long time.

Mr. Cuthill illuminated my rather inept statement with one sentence, proving that wisdom is not totally absent from the world of piping and drumming – although I'm not too sure about the rest of our society and culture. He said something along the lines of "Yes, 40 years isn't a long time in many ways, but it is a long time in the life of a person." Indeed it is. No one knows this better than those who were the "active" executive, members, competitors, helpers, and supporters of 1960 and who have continued to contribute to both the Association and the Newsletter.

One of these – and there is no intention to slight anyone here – I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time a couple of weeks ago: Mr. C. I. Walker, author, raconteur, and gentleman, who was President of our Association in 1960. He initiated the Newsletter in April of that year with a team of dedicated people, whom he writes of in his article in this issue. Read it.

Mr. Walker, known more familiarly as Ian, wrote some very interesting things in those early issues. I've selected a couple to illustrate how far we have come in 40 years, as well as to show that "the more things change the more they stay the same". In the first instance, Ian notes that

Having our own quarters, I am certain, is the dream of most of us, but we are going to have to exercise great economy if this dream is to be realized.

The next time you're in the Scottish Hall, remember that what was once a dream has become a reality.

In the "haven't we fixed that yet?" category is this:

I would like to say a few words about a chronic fault I have observed in this association in the last year, and that is one of apathy. Although we have a membership of approximately 80 persons, there are many whom we never see and many whom we see only at the Indoor Meet.

We have, on the other hand, no scarcity of critics, as I suppose is the case in all organizations. How many times have you heard that the judge should have played at the indoor meet, or that the prizes awarded are unsuitable, or that a certain competitor should be playing in a different class, or that our entire system of classification is wrong. I do not welcome carping, especially when it is made at a time when, as is usual, it is too late to do anything about the complaint anyway.

The best thing that any of us today can say to those who preceded us is "Thank you."

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Rorri McBlane
Editor, B.C. Pipers Association Communications
bcpaeditor@dccnet.com
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