SOVEREIGN ASSURANCE - NORTH! TO ALASKA (extract from NZ Pipeband Winter 2000)   Alaska "The Last Frontier" say car licence plates in Anchorage. And it's certainly not the first place you would think of when planning a pipe band tour! However Alaska and the Yukon in Canada is where the Sovereign Assurance City of Sails Pipe Band has just spent two weeks in June. Two years of fund raising and a huge organisational effort from Tour leader Peter Ferguson culminated when 18 members of the Sovereign Assurance band embarked on the long journey to Anchorage, Alaska. The band were to be the guests of the Crow Creek Pipe Band, and the Alaska Scottish Club at their Highland Games before travelling on to Whitehorse, the state capital of the Yukon in Canada where it played at the Yukon Gathering of the Clans as guests of the Midnight Sun Pipe Band. The band's first engagement on arrival in Anchorage was to play at a local Rotary chapter at a ski resort just out of Anchorage. This turned out to be more of an exercise then anyone contemplated when having successfully discharged its obligations at a rather imposing resort hotel (rooms started at US$500 per night) we agreed to stop for a wee refreshment in one of the local hostelries the "Brown Bear Saloon" along the route home. Little did we realise that it was going to be our home for the next six hours as a major motor accident closed the road to traffic going both ways. The band decided to give a concert to the rapidly increasing number of locals caught out by the accident and in return received free beer for the rest of the night!. Arriving back in Anchorage at 4.00am did not leave a lot of time to recover before our next engagement; a meeting with former Prime Minister and current US Ambassador Jim Bolger and his wife Joan, also in Anchorage for a conference. A preliminary event to the main highland gathering was a piping trio competition held on the Friday afternoon in the Town Square. The band's trio (John Hanning, Ross Hanning, and Shane Stewart) winning the Alaskan State Championship. The band then performed a concert in the Anchorage Town Square playing several brackets of New Zealand tunes, piper Shane Stewart gave a solo performance consisting of a bracket of his own compositions all of which were well received by an enthusiastic crowd of several thousand lunch-time workers in brilliant sunshine.

The next day was the big day as far as the tour was concerned concerned with the band performing and competing at the Alaskan Highland Gathering held at the picturesque Eagle River ground about 40 minutes out of Anchorage. All bands in Alaska are Grade 4, so the band was in a grade of its own. A typical highland gathering, dancing, piping, drumming, heavy events, sheep dog trials et all. A number of members of the band competed successfully in the solo piping and drumming. Watch out of the Crow Creek Band who will be competing in at the World's next year. After a few more days in Anchorage experiencing the wonderful hospitality of our hosts, the band embarked on an arduous 1100 mile journey by bus (14hr), first to Dawson City, the centre of the Klondike gold rush and then a further 8hrs on to Whitehorse. After a warm reception from our new hosts the Midnight Sun Pipe Band we were whisked away to our billets to prepare for the two day Yukon "Gathering of the Clans". The band performed well in the band contest on the Saturday again playing in Grade 3 on its own. Various members of the band were to the fore in the solo piping and drumming events. Drum Sergeant June Wright displayed her versatility when the band was asked at short notice to provide someone to sing our national anthem at the opening ceremony. June showed that as well as being an accomplished highland dancer, pianist, and leading side she was also a dab hand at singing solo in front of thousands of people. The Sunday events included the piping trio competition where the band team again won and the each band was asked to put on a short 10-minute concert with Sovereign given the final spot. A highlight of the final day's games was watching the tug of war final between a team from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a composite team made up of athletes competing in the Highland heavy events. Both teams were piped on to the field for a very serious bout in which the Mounties triumphed. A great PR exercise for the Mounties. All too soon it was over and the band was heading home. New friendships established, great hospitality and wonderful experience for the band in a land where you have 24 hours (in the summer!) to do these things. Ross Hanning

Last updated 14.05.02