{"id":26630,"date":"2020-05-28T19:20:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T23:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=26630"},"modified":"2020-06-04T18:30:58","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T22:30:58","slug":"bagpiping-to-thank-frontline-heroes-is-nightly-tradition-for-local-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/bagpiping-to-thank-frontline-heroes-is-nightly-tradition-for-local-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Bagpiping to thank frontline heroes is nightly tradition for local student"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ro\u00e1n Binnendyk was set for the trip of a lifetime last\nweek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A member of the St. Andrew\u2019s College Pipes and Drums\ncorps, the Grade 9 student had been practicing diligently to ensure he was\npitch perfect ahead of performing overseas along with his fellow corps members\nfor the King and Queen of the Netherlands to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary\nof the Liberation of Holland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, due to the present global emergency, instead of\nperforming for Canadian heroes who were also set to make the trip, he stood\nalone on his Gurnett Street porch, bagpipes primed, paying tribute to another\ngroup of heroes: the doctors, nurses and other essential workers fighting on\nthe frontlines to keep us safe and healthy against COVID-19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he has been doing so since the early days of the\npandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-March, inspired by individuals in Vancouver who\ncome out of their houses each evening to clap and bang pots and pans to thank\nfrontline healthcare workers as they change shifts, Ro\u00e1n decided to use his\ntime and talent for a unique spin on the new tradition for heroes close to\nhome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were banging pots outside, sometimes playing\nmusical instruments, just trying to connect with the community so [frontline\nworkers] know everyone is still there,\u201d he said on Wednesday evening as\nneighbours came out onto their front lawns and porches for the evening\nperformance \u2013 another new tradition. \u201cI think the bagpipes are a strong\ninstrument that might inspire people more than most. I think this has been a\nreally great experience where I have helped other people maybe more than I can\nunderstand. Through music, I can bring people together in a darker time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ro\u00e1n first developed his interest in the bagpipes when he\nenrolled at SAC. He has been piping for just over five years and has been a\ndedicated member of the Pipes & Drums Corps for nearly two-and-a-half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by how his nightly performances have resonated\nwith his immediate community, Ro\u00e1n plans on taking the show on the road and is\narranging to play the bagpipes outside of a several local seniors\u2019 residences\nin the coming weeks, including Chartwell Aurora (formerly Resthaven), which\ncontinues to grapple with an outbreak of the virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis makes me so proud,\u201d said Ro\u00e1n\u2019s mother Susan.\n\u201cThere are people who are on the frontlines fighting every day to save people\u2019s\nlives and this is the least Ro\u00e1n can do. I wish personally I could do\nsomething, but, unfortunately, I am a vulnerable person so we don\u2019t even go\ngrocery shopping. I am just really, really proud Ro\u00e1n doesn\u2019t even question\ngoing out here to play and the response from our neighbours has been fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such response came from a neighbour from across\nnearby Rotary Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Falk, a musician with the local band Soul Benefit,\nfirst heard the pipes from a distance soon after Ro\u00e1n began playing each\nevening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce you\u2019ve heard the bagpipes at sunset, you know you\nhave to respond across that big, empty park,\u201d said Mr. Falk at the time, noting\nhe responded to the call himself with a few notes on his trumpet. \u201cWe are not\nsure who is playing the bagpipes, but it feels like a call for a conversation.\nIt\u2019s like someone saying \u2018Goodnight.\u2019 You just have to reply, \u2018You too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Steve was able to find the source of this\nevocative \u201cgoodnight\u201d and was recently able to join in on a much closer \u2013 and\nstill physically distanced \u2013 jam session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother is Scottish and I love the bagpipes, but I\nthink with the response he has had I will always remember fondly this time for Ro\u00e1n,\u201d\nadds Susan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Ro\u00e1n, he intends to keep the tradition going for\nthe foreseeable future and hopes more local musicians, young and old, can join\nin \u2013 in their own spaces, in their own way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt helps more than you might think,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople come out and give you great feedback and that makes you feel good. It\u2019s also a good way to practice and get outside. It\u2019s great to get out and see people interact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ro\u00e1n Binnendyk was set for the trip of a lifetime last week. A member of the St. Andrew\u2019s College Pipes and Drums corps, the Grade 9 student had been practicing diligently to ensure he was pitch perfect ahead of performing overseas along with his fellow corps members for the King and Queen of the Netherlands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2020-05-28-01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6Vw","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 01:13:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}