Calendar of Events 2024
Jun 16-17
Black Creek Pioneer Village
Jul 1
Bath Canada Day
Jul 21-22
Fort Ontario, NY

News - Perth Graveside Dedication


Loyalist Fifes and Drums and the Canadian Fencibles in Perth, Ontario
Last weekend (May 22-24) after shaking out the cobwebs, following the winter off-season, the Loyalist Fifes and Drums visited Perth’s Old Burying Ground. The weekend-long event was organized as a rededication ceremony for some tombstones that were vandalized last year. This was the Drums kick-off event for the 2009 season, and it was a memorable one. After some unpacking Friday evening the Corps headed into the beautiful downtown area of Perth, where they came upon O’Reilly’s. The Irish-style pub was enjoyed by all, with great food and music.

Saturday’s events included a fantastic breakfast provided for us by the legion, and an afternoon battle on the waterfront, complete with bateaux’s, and artillery. This made for a big bang here and there. The weather held out with no rain, but chilly at some points in the day. With some O.T.P. (Own Time Practice) and the Drums famous ‘lets-all-pass-out-on-the-ground-and-wake-up-with-a-crowd-of-people-around-us’ time, the event was a terrific way to start off the Drums’ season. Dinner was again provided by the legion and this also gave the Corps an opportunity to take a look in the Legion’s newly opened museum that was full of treasures donated by the Perth community.

On Saturday evening the brigade took part in an evening battle, again on the waterfront. Before the evening’s activities began, everyone enjoyed all of the show tunes performed by the Perth’s Citizens Band. A little buggy, (we’re still finding bug bites), but enjoyed by all, the battle ended and the Drums hitched a ride back to camp 18th-Century style, via the bateaux’s.

Sunday morning the Corps made a classic Timmy’s (or how the Sjt. Major would put it, ‘Widow Horton’s’) run. We ordered seven bagels, six coffees and one white milk, all through drive-through, bless their souls. For the remainder of the morning we rehearsed the afternoon’s ceremony -some were more alert than others. Following our lunch break, the ceremony began. With more performances by Perth’s Citizens Band, this time joined by their choir, several speakers and hymns made the ceremony a success. There was a performance by our fifes, with some well-enjoyed piping.

The Drums would like to thank all the people who made this event possible; your efforts in making this event great were well received by all. To the missing members of our Corps, we are all looking forward to seeing you at upcoming events this season. It’s shaping up to be a great summer.

Christine.