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Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, July 4, 2018
The Celts come to Milton
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
For the third straight year the Milton
SportsDome was invaded by a horde of
Celtic Bagpipe Bands from the Northeast
and New England to compete in a
sanctioned Bagpipe Tournament.
Several years ago SportsDome owners
Nick and Maryanne Pizza received
approval from the town to host outdoor
events on their property as a way of
offering additional activities to the public.
“Anybody who comes to me with an
idea that I think is workable, they wear
the hat and we work together,” Nick said,
especially thanking local resident Brendan
O’ Reilly, who performs in a pipe band, for
helping to get the Hudson Valley Celtic
Festival off the ground.
O’Reilly became familiar with the
SportsDome because his daughter had
played in soccer tournaments on the
grounds. O’Reilly belongs to the Firefighter
McPadden Pipe and Drum Band in honor
of the late fireman Robert McPadden who
perished in the 911 attacks. His sister, Liz,
was at the tournament and said naming
the band for her brother, who was also
a drummer and an aspiring piper, was a
wonderful tribute. The band performs in 4
or 5 competitions during the summer but
The T McCann Band performs traditional Celtic songs. Pictured L-R Rich Williams, Terry
McCann and Steven Gara.
The Warwick based band Emish headlined the evening with Jennifer Curreri on flute, Bobby
Curreri on vocals and guitar, Mitch Sumner on bass, Adam Conforti on drums and Christy
Brown on violin.
At the end of the competitions all of the pipe bands marched across the parade grounds.
practices weekly nearly year round.
“We had 16 pipe bands today and 80
soloists,” O’Reilly said. “In the morning
from 8 to 12 we had 10 stations all around
the property here and we brought in 10
judges.”
O’Reilly said the weather for the
tournament was perfect.
“It’s a bit cold, not too hot and plenty
of clouds so an Irish guy won’t get burned
and it didn’t rain. This is a miracle because
if you looked at the weather yesterday
every station was saying we were going
to get blown out with rain in the morning
and showers in the afternoon. We’ve had
nothing all day; its been great,” he laughed.
Marc DuBois, of Syracuse, said there
were four judges for the competitions
that were held in a marked off circle.
Two judges concentrate just on the skills
of the bagpipers, how well their drones
and chanters are tuned together and how
accomplished the pipers are with playing
in unison. In the medley section of the
contest, there is flexibility that allows for
pipers to play in harmony. A third judge
Continued on page 25