MOOSE JAW — For Michelle Carline, the sound of the pipes has never just been about music. It has been her passport to new friendships, far-flung journeys, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences — the same opportunities she now wants to pass along to Moose Jaw’s next generation of players.
Carline, director of the White Heather Youth Pipe Band, has spent decades in the piping community. What began as a childhood pursuit has blossomed into a lifelong passion that carried her around the world. Along the way, she’s played in international concerts, taken part in solemn commemorations, and marched in parades that tied music to history.
“I know bagpipes have really expanded my world,” Carline said. “I ended up getting to live in Scotland, and I had a new family once I arrived, because ‘Oh, you play bagpipes.’ I travelled to New Zealand … and Australia, and yeah, it has just been an amazing thing for me.”
International experience
One of Carline’s more memorable trips took her overseas to perform with other Canadian musicians during Second World War commemorations in the Netherlands.
She played a lament at St. Mauritius Church in Silvolde, the Netherlands, joined fellow pipers and drummers for a liberation parade in Wageningen, the Netherlands, and performed with the full band and dancers at the Mook War Cemetery. At each site, the haunting tones of the pipes carried both honour and remembrance.
Among the many highlights was meeting Canadian veteran Nick Janicki, who turned 102 on Sept. 8. Janicki, born in Stout, B.C., had served with the Canadian Scottish Regiment and helped liberate Deventer, the Netherlands, in April 1945.
“Meeting Mr. Janicki before the parade in Wageningen was unforgettable,” Carline reflected. “To stand there with someone who had been part of that history, and then to march in the same streets he helped free, was so powerful.”
A lifetime of connections
Carline said encounters like these are part of what makes the piping world so unique. Everywhere she has travelled, the common language of music has opened doors and forged bonds that last well beyond the final note of a concert.
“When you’re a piper or a drummer, you’re never really a stranger,” she said. “There’s always a band ready to welcome you and people ready to connect. Those friendships are lifelong.”
That sense of community is what she hopes will draw more young musicians to explore the White Heather Youth Pipe Band. The group, which rehearses weekly, is small but growing and Carline knows from experience how far a practice chanter or snare drum can take a young player.
Opportunities for local players
While the band’s Sept. 8 open house focused on giving students a first taste of the pipes or drums, Carline said the larger message is that opportunities abound for anyone who decides to commit.
“It doesn’t matter what your background is, you don’t have to be Scottish,” she explained. “We welcome all cultures and all people. What matters is the willingness to learn and be part of something bigger.”
For student musicians, that “something bigger” can mean travel to festivals, competitions, and even international commemorations like the ones Carline has experienced. It can also mean discovering skills that translate beyond music: discipline, teamwork, and the confidence that comes with performing in public.
Studies, she added, consistently show that children involved in music do well academically and socially. For Carline, the real proof is in the friendships she still treasures from her own years as a youth in Moose Jaw’s Sprigs o’ Heather Pipe Band.
“I grew up (playing) in a band here, and it shaped my life in so many ways,” she said. “That’s why I wanted to get a youth pipe band going again. It’s about keeping the tradition alive, but also giving today’s kids the same chances I had.”
Whether someone is drawn to the steady rhythm of the drums or the soaring sound of the pipes, there’s a place for them in the White Heather Youth Pipe Band.
“You don’t have to start right at the beginning of the season — we’ll take you in and get you started any time,” she added. “Bring a friend, try something new, and see where it takes you.”
The White Heather Youth Pipe Band rehearses Monday evenings at Pathways School, located at 109 Ominica Street West. For more details or to register, contact Carline at MCarline@hotmail.com or 306-690-3525.
