This Saturday, November 25th, the Ottawa Branch of the PPBSO will dedicate a new trophy in memory of Tom Brown.
The Pipe Major Tom Brown Memorial Cup, will be presented as part of this month’s Knockout and Branch Awards ceremony. It will be awarded to “The Most Successful Pipe Band, Eastern Ontario – All Grades”. The trophy has been donated by the members of the RCAF Pipes and Drums, Ottawa, with generous support from their alumni. The award features insignia from all six bands that Tom had competed with from Grade Four through Grade One. The inaugural recipient is the Glengarry Pipe Band – Grade Five, under the leadership of Pipe Major Erin Bell and Lead Drummer Jim Bush. The “Tom Brown Cup” will be presented by Tom’s wife Michele, and their daughter Abigail.
In the six months since his passing, Pipe Major/RCAF Tom Brown has been sorely missed, especially by his family and close friends and his loss has been deeply felt in our piping and drumming community. During the recent Remembrance Ceremonies at the National War Memorial Cenotaph in Ottawa, the Massed Pipes and Drums of the RCAF and the Cameron Highlanders played a new quickstep in their march-on set, entitled Pipe Major Tom Brown – RCAF. The Mistress of Ceremonies of the Royal Canadian Legion-organized annual event also made special mention of Tom, noting that he had played “The Lament” on the nationally televised event in five of the previous six years.
