The 78th Fraser Highlanders made it two in a row as they won the Grade 1 medley contest at the Cobourg Highland Games on Saturday, June 21, 2014 against a strong field of competitors, including the Ottawa Police, who were again challenging up to the premier grade. For the second consecutive year since returning to the status of a PPBSO-sanctioned games, absolutely perfect weather graced this picturesque town on the shores of Lake Ontario. Following last week’s season-opener in Georgetown, all eyes were on the Grade 1 contest to see if Ottawa Police could repeat their strong results from a week ago.
While Ottawa’s performance was again very good, they were not able to get in the prizes, finishing fourth in the field of four competitors. The 78th Fraser Highlanders again put in a very confident and musical performance, taking three firsts and a second from the judges. Peel followed closely in second, with Toronto Police grabbing third spot. A very appreciative crowd was indeed given a real treat with all of the bands’ performances in the premier grade.
Ottawa Police were the lone entry in the grade 2 contest.
Paris Port Dover again managed to outpoint their rivals Toronto Police in the Grade 3 medley contest, while Niagara Regional Police capitalized on a strong drumming and ensemble performance to take third place. Having won a Champions Supreme last season, Paris Port Dover are again serving notice that they will be the band to beat this year, providing plenty of incentive for the other bands in the field to raise their standard and take a run at the top spot in upcoming games.
In Grade 4, Rob Roy are showing that they may have juggernaut qualities this year, taking the medley contest with great sound and clean execution. Arnprior MacNab was a solid second, leveraging the hard work that they have put in over the last few years, while the Pipes & Drums of Lindsay, who were again challenging up from Grade 5, showed that their second place in this grade in Georgetown last week was no fluke, finishing third.
In what may perhaps turn out to be the most competitive of all the grades this year, The Pipes & Drums of Lindsay edged out last week’s winners, Paris Port Dover, to take the crown in the Grade 5 march medley event. Hamilton Police continued their strong showings this year, which began at the Toronto Indoor contest, finishing in third place. The standard of play in Grade 5 looks to be outstanding this year, which certainly bodes well for all the PPBSO grades in the coming years.
In a repeat performance of last week, the individual piping and drumming honours were again won by; Ian K MacDonald – professional piper of the day, Zack Miller – professional drummer of the day, Tyler Harris – amateur piper of the day and Kyle Wardell – amateur drummer of the day.
For the full results of the day, please refer to the results page for Cobourg.