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Highlanders
History
Written By
Howard (Doc) Gault, DDS
1995
Original
Manuscript
The
year was 1935, the date was June 10, and the place was the Southern Railroad
Station in Chattanooga, Tennessee. At
that time, most travel was done on railroads and there was a very large crowd of
travelers at the station. Suddenly
they heard a very strange noise and a formation of men dressed in kilts came
into view. Some were playing drums and the others were playing music on
the pride of Scotland... bagpipes.
This
group had been formed a
year earlier, in 1934, and were the Bagpipe Band of Alhambra Shrine of
Chattanooga, Tennessee. They were on their way to Washington, D.C., which
was to be the site of the sixty-first Annual Session of The Imperial Council of
the Shrines of North America. This was the very first Shrine Bagpipe
Unit and we of Alhambra Shrine are very very proud of this fact.
The
unit, at that time, was called the Alhambra Temple Bagpipe Band. The name has
been changed to the Alhambra Highlander Pipes and Drums and this is due to
the fact that the drum section stands on an equal footing with the bagpipe
section and the Highlander Unit, as it stands today, would have it no other way.
Originally, this unit was part of the Alhambra Temple Drum and Bugle Corps. The
idea of a Highlander Unit originated in the minds of Nobles Fred C. Rose
and Donald McDonald and they played bagpipes in the Drum and Bugle Corps.
They were joined by Fred DeFur, Schuyler Page, Burt Waller, (a top flight
clarinetist) and Frank Nott. Their
idea was to make this pipe and drum unit an independent unit of
Alhambra Shrine. In 1940, their dream came to fulfillment and the Bagpipe Band
Unit (as it was called then) was formed..
It
is hard to believe that the Highlander Pipes and Drums of 1993 are approaching
their sixtieth birthday. The organization has changed considerably in the past
fifty-nine years. (but not in all respects) The first parade in which they
participated, they were led by their own four member color guard. Yaarab
Shrine Temple Pipes and Drums (of Atlanta, Georgia) used a color guard in their
parade formation and Alhambra m1ght possibly do the same some time in the
future. (perhaps) So, their very first formation found the color guard in the
lead, followed by the Drum major, then the
Drum Section and finally the Bagpipe Section.
Our
formation today consists of the Drum major up front, followed by the
Bagpipe Section and then the Drum Section. The first members wore kilts
with the blue and green Campbell tartan along with red and green Eton Jackets.
At that time, Ralph Miller, a member of the unit and a bagpiper, arranged the
music. Ralph was a first class musician and in later years, he was
director of the Alhambra Dance Band which played for all dances, one of these
was "The Campbells are Coming" and another, which he wrote, was
"Alhambra Pipers." There were times, in those early days, that a few
of the members marched in the middle of the formation and played soprano
saxophones to keep the melody flowing smoothly ...sometimes, I kind of wish we
had those soprano saxes to use in parades...they would be forbidden to be used
in competition...watch out Kenny G.
The
Alhambra Highlander Pips and Drums wear the Dress MacLeod Tartan. This was
adopted in 1947 and is still used (but not the same kilts...
they do wear out, you know) by the entire band.
The
Bagpipe Band Unit which became the Highlanders in 1958 and then the Alhambra
Pipes and Drums in 1988 has had five Potentates emerge from its ranks.
'These are James A. Buford, Harold Brown. John W. Cotten, Marvin Spector and L.
Manuel Nash. They were always highly regarded while they were members of the
unit and it was with mixed feelings of good wishes and regret that we bid them
farewell then they became members of the Divan. The present Potentate,
Alvin Smith is an honorary member of the Highlander Pipes and Drums.
Down
through the years, the Alhambra Highlander Pipes and Drums have been a very very
active unit. They have been awarded the honor of Alhambra Shrine Unit of the
Year". several times and in addition to participating in all
Alhambra functions, they have also participated in many civic functions, such
as, for example, the Eagle Boy Scout Investiture, charitable events, such as a
concert in behalf of the Epilepsy Foundation, many many church appearances,
State Eastern Star Convention, and the list can go on and on ad infinitum. This
organization actually has more requests than it is able to fulfill, but we
do our best to meet all of these even to performing in more than one place
during the same evening. On one occasion, the entire band was flown to Nashville
just to escort a new Scottish golf pro from the club house to the first tee...we have one
invitation as far away as July 1994 and at that time we will
play for the International Golf Tournament at the famous Honors Course in Chattanooga.
We
are very proud of our many years of service to Alhambra Shrine and are looking
forward to many more years of continued fellowship with our fellow Nobles and
Brothers.
We
dedicate ourselves anew to the ideas of the mystic Shrine of North America
and the the Shrine Hospitals
for
Crippled and Burned Children.... many
thanks to the Alhambra Yearbook for 1977 which provided some of the
information for this article. We don't know whether it had been copyrighted, but
it did thank "Cubby" Culberson, LaVerne Case and P.P. Jimmy Buford,
all of whom are no longer with us in body, and also Doc Gault who is still
an active member of this unit. This article was really written by all of the
active members and
honorary members of the Alhambra Highlander Pipes and Drums and also those, of
blessed memory, who had gone on before us.
This
history of the Alhambra Pipes and Drums for the 1993 Alhambra Yearbook is written
in honor of our immediate past Pipe Major and best friend, Art
Tuckman. Art is no longer able to march bodily with us, but when we are parading
or participating in a competition, we can feel his presence within the unit and
this is what it's all about. HAPPY
90 YEARS, ART!!!
OFFICERS:
Captain.............................
Jim O'Connor
Drum
Major.......................... Wynne Hoopes
Pipe
Major............................. Tom Jecks
Pipe
Sergeant......................... Sam
Austin
Drum
Sergeant~..................... Henry
Johnson
Secretary.......................
Dr. Howard Gault
Treasurer...........................
Leo Bradshaw
The
Alhambra Temple Pipes and Drums have come a long way since their humble
beginning. There was a time when all but one of the bagpipers could not read
music and numbers had to be substituted for the notes. The music they
played was relatively simple. but with hard work and a super-human effort. they
did the job. All of the Highlanders today read music and are able to
either play or earn to play any piece of music written for either the bagpipe or
the drums. At the Southeastern Shrine Convention Highland Competition in 1991
and in 1992. the Alhambra Highlander Pipes and Drums won first place
for each of those years. At the Highland Games at Glasgow. Kentucky in 1993.
they came up against much stiffer competition and won second place. We make no
prediction for the Highlander Competition at the Southeastern Shrine Convention Savannah. Georgia'
in 1993. but we will be there and will make our mark and win or lose, we will
do a creditable job.
A
very vital part of the Alhambra Pipes and Drums Unit are the Highlander ladies.
They help, aid and assist the Highlander Unit in so many ways, that we would be
lost without them. The Highlander ladies meet the same night as the Uniform Units Dinner
Meeting and they meet at some of the better restaurants in
Chattanooga, a different place each month. They are as follows; Evelyn
Austin, Aline Bearden, Bettie Bradshaw, Mary Crownover, Ida Gault, Cherie
Gilcrist, Ruth Hamilton, Vera Hooper, Frances Hoopes, Mitzi Hale, Wanda Hoover,
Margaret Howard, Jaen Hyde, Vivian Johnson, Liz Liv, Melba O'Connor, Judy
Shipley, Barbara Smith, Sandra Sterchi, Mona Taylor, Ann Thorne, Marty Thorne,
Mary Lou Youngberg, Mary Tuckman, Mildred Wagner and Margaret Culberson...the
better half of Cubby Culberson of fond and blessed memory.
The
following is a listing of the Active members of the Highlanders and this
will be followed by a listing of the inactive members. This is really a misnomer
for our so-called inactive members do everything that the active members do
except for the fact that they no longer march. They participate in all of our
activities...they sell candy, work at the circus, etc. You name it,
they do it except for the fact that the legs "ain't what they used to
be" but the willing and helping hand is always there.
ACTIVE
MEMBERS:
Sam
Austin, Speedy Bearden, Leo Bradshaw, Doc Gault, Ron Gilchrist, Ron Hale,
Willard Hooper, Wynne Hoopes, Jim Hover, Jack Howard, Curtis Hyde, Tom Jecks,
Henry Johnson, James Lively, Jim O'Connor, Jim Smith, Fred Sterchi, David
Thorne, Bill Wagner, Gary Youngberg.
INACTIVE
BUT HONORARY
MEMBERS:
Jim
Baird, Kelly Crownover,
Don Hamilton, Parks Taylor,
Buddy Thorne, Art Tuckman, Illustrious Sir, Alvin D. Smith, Potentate of
Alhambra Shrine. Alvin helped our drummers and also played the bass drum
during some of our parades when we needed him and has always merited our respect
and our esteem.
Respectively
submitted
Dr.
Howard H. Gault
Highlanders
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