Olympic Call Up for Scotia Pipers
Scotia Pipers also supplied a quartet to Samsung to play for them in their themed 'Great Britain Day' in the Olympic Stadium Complex.
I was delighted to be asked out to play at the Olympics during a chance
meeting with the attaché for the British Olympic team. I was over in
Athens in June 2004 playing at the British Embassy for the Queens
Birthday celebrations. The attaché was at the party as she was over
finalising details with Embassy for the team. I was asked if I would
like to come over and play for the team. I accepted immediately.
Left to Right: Sir David Madden, PM Tony Blair, Steven Dewar
Steven Dewar with members of the ITV team
I had two functions at the Embassy. The first was the official welcome to
Athens for team. I piped them from their coaches into the embassy in 35
degree heat. Hard work for even the most finely tuned athlete:-) Some
of the athletes were actually sympathising with me over the work I was
putting in. I drank 3 litres of Water in 45mins. After greeting the
athletes I got the opportunity to mingle with them and offer my best
wishes for the games.
The next evening was the turn of the foreign ministers to attend a games celebration. There was an A-Z list of Ambassadors and celebrities from throughout the World. I enjoyed a wee chat with Tony Blair and wife Cherie along with Princess Anne, who loved my rendition of Flower of Scotland.
A group of 4 Pipers from Scotia Pipers flew out to play for Samsung at their Olympic Rendezvous. Namely Adrian Cramb, Keiran Downey, Scott Oliphant and Steven Dewar. Samsung were one of the main sponsors of the Olympics and had an entertainment complex within the main Stadium complex. They ran various themed days featuring entertainment from the various countries taking part in the Olympics. Our turn was 'Great Britain' Day. We had 4 slots throughout the day on stage. The slots went down tremendously well with people from all over the world, there was a great sense of harmony amongst the different cultures. Everyone had a genuine warmth and interest in our performance. We didn't know at the time, but were later told that Brit Darren Campbell had sprinted along to hear what the noise was.
Whilst out in Athens we did Scotland proud wearing the kilts and playing the pipes around the tavernas. There was just a great sense of harmony all over Athens for the Olympics, everyone was so nice to each other. The pipes went down a treat in the bars, plenty free beer all round.
Left to right: Steven Dewar, Kieran Downey, Scott Oliphant, Adrian Cramb
Overall a great memory, roll on Beijing 2008.