FROM THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR ...

TORONTO - Before concert-goers enjoy Rod Stewart's greatest hits show at his Toronto tour date tonight, they'll be treated to an up close and personal performance by the Hamilton Police Pipe Band.

Fifty bagpipers and percussionists will line the aisles at the Molson Amphitheatre and let loose 30 minutes of Scottish tunes before the Forever Young singer takes the stage.

It will be the third time the local musicians have opened for Stewart. The singer, who has Scottish roots, first requested a pipe band for his last Hamilton concert at Copps Coliseum in 2007 and again for a Toronto show at the Air Canada Centre.

The rocker's request "was kind of a shocker," said the band's senior pipe major, police officer Don Forgan. "A pipe band at a rock concert is unheard of."

Five members of the band are police officers; the rest are civilians, including a large number of children.

FERGUS - The Grade Five band won the final contest of the season, the famed Fergus Scottish Festival in Fergus, Ontario.

It was the young band's first win as a unit, and topped off what was a first competitive season for some of the young musicians.

The final band contest of the year was a washout - literally - for the Grade Two and Four bands a day earlier.

Persistent rain turned to angry lightning and winds, and much heavier rain, forcing organizers to cancel band competitions at the Fergus Scottish Festival on August 9th. It was a particular shame for Grade 2 competitors Midlothian Scottish, which had made the journey all the way from Chicago - only to be left huddling under a tent trying to stay dry.

The solo contests did manage to be staged earlier in the day, and Hamilton pipers and drummers had very strong results.

Mitch Taylor was the amateur piper of the day, winning three of his four solo contests at the Grade 1 level. In Grade 2, Brendan Culver and Garth Sinclair both won contests. In Grade 3, Alec Rogers won all three of the contests he played in, while Jonathan Bellia also featured in the prizes. In Grade 4, Cameron Cox and Kaitlyn Billing placed, and in Grade 5, Ryan Fountain won and Edward Watt had a placing.

In drumming, Alan Henry was second in a Grade 1 contest. In Grade 3, Cameron McKail won and Kyle Wardell was 4th. In Grade 4, Callum McKail was 3rd and Jordan Culver 4th. In Grade 5, David Cox won and Devin McIlveen was 3rd.

Matt Bellia was second in pro rhythm tenor while Lina Bruni was 4th. Sandy McKail, who runs the juvenile drumming programs for the bands, had a second and third in the open category.

MAXVILLE - When many of Pipe Major Peter Aumonier's young pipers scattered in fall 2007 for university - some hanging up the pipes for a few years - there was cause to wonder what the remaining Grade 2 band would look like and how it would do.

As it turns out, not too badly at all.

The band walked away from the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville, Ontario on August 2nd with the 2008 North American Pipe Band Championship for Grade 2, winning the MSR and placing second in the medley. The band came out ahead of seven other bands, representing the great majority of the top Grade 2 bands in Canada and the United States. Friendly rivals Niagara Police had a strong event and were second, followed by the St. Andrew's Society of Winnipeg.

The win was the third Maxville title for the group of young pipers and drummers that have been the nucleus of the band since Aumonier took them on in 2002. The group won in Grade 4 in 2004, Grade 3 in 2006 and then the Grade 2 title this year.

The win comes in only the second year the band has played at the high caliber Grade 2 level, and came in the wake of wins this season at Georgetown, Chatham and Cambridge.

Both sections of the contest were held before monsoon rains and wind swept into the Maxville grounds, delaying many of the other contests, drenching competitors and relegating the finale to announcements inside a hockey arena.

Band members, some who'd left the grounds early to dry off themselves and equipment, celebrated well into the night at the group's Cornwall lodgings.

Aumonier and lead drummer John Gaudet were in the thick of the celebrations, and they were lauded on the day by a large cross-section of the piping world on this side of the ocean. Let's just say it was a little foggy the next morning.

It was a good day, as well, for the Grades 4 and 5 bands, as well as solo players.

The Grade 4 band made it through a tough 24 band qualifier and played in the finals.

The Grade 5 band finished 4th and its drummers won best drum corps and best bass. It was the fifth year in a row one of Sandy McKail's pint-sized drum lines has won a North American title, earlier with Braemar and now with Hamilton.

In solos,  Brendan Culver won the Grade 2 Jig and both he and Garth Sinclair featured in the medals in other Grade 2 contests. Zach Lindeman won a Grade 3 march while Alec Rogers and Andrew Sandison also had top 5 placings in Grade 3 and inJunior Amateur Piobaireachd. Edward Watt, in only his first year of competitive piping, won the Grade 5 title.

Kaitlin Billing won the Grade 4 march and was given a trophy as youngest piper of the day, and Elspeth Robertson was in the top five in the Grade 5 march.

In drumming, Cameron McKail won Grade 3 MSR while Kyle Wardell was 4th, Callum McKail and Jordan Culver were both third in Grade 4 marches, and David Cox came out on top in Grade 5, while Devon McIlveen was 4th and Duncan Robertson 5th. In Professional Rhythm Bass, C.J. McGibbon was 1st, and in Professional Rhythm Tenor, 3rd went to Matt Bellia and 4th to Lina Bruni.

CHATHAM - The Grade 2 band came out on top in a tight MSR contest at the Chatham Highland Games in Chatham, Ontario on July 12. The event was the first Champion Supreme contest of the year, and attracted two 2 US bands, Chicago Midlothian and City of Chicago.

The Grade 4 band put on a solid performance, but finished outside the prizes.

The event was also notable for a massive rainstorm midday, forcing the band members to huddle for 15-20 minutes under tents and any other shelter they could find.

KINCARDINE - The Grade 4 and Grade 5 band's drummers both won top marks at the Kincardine Scottish Festival in scenic Kincardine, on the shores of Lake Huron.

The bands did not feature in the final prizes, while the Grade 2 band was second to Niagara Police in a medley contest.

GEORGETOWN - The bands opened up the competition season with mixed results at the Georgetown Highland Games on June 14th.

The Grade Two band won its class, taking the piping and drumming firsts and 2nd in ensemble in an MSR contest. The Grades 4 and 5 bands also competed but were not in the prizes.