A three-year-old’s ambition to meet a drum major is no longer a pipe dream thanks to his mum and the organisers of Piping At Forres.
Little Aaron Mcdowall came face-to-face with drum major John Noble and Gloria Aicken (pictured) two adjudicators at Piping At Forres on June 30, after his mum Lisa contacted the organisers to see if they could help fulfil his wish.
Aaron is obsessed with pipe bands and watches them perform on his iPad and listens to pipe band music every day.
He even gets his parents to march around whilst he shouts commands.
The Huntly family which includes dad Craig and one-year-old brother Callum were visiting Piping At Forres for the first time and Lisa thought it would be a great opportunity for Aaron to meet a drum major in the flesh.
She said: “A huge thank you to Piping At Forres and the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association for helping to organise this. Aaron is just delighted. He loves a pipe band. We have CDs and everyday he listens to the music or watches bands on his tablet.
“He is too young to join a band at the moment, but as soon as he is old enough, if he is still keen, we will get him involved in our local pipe band.”
She added: “We are not sure where his love for pipe band music came from, but he also likes to pretend he is the drum major and he will march about, shouting ‘quick march.’ Quite often he gets us marching with him.”
John Hughes, chairman of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association said: “We have about 5000 youngsters in pipe bands across the country. There is a big focus on education and training. Young people are the future of the Association. The more we can encourage them, then the long-term future of the association is safe.”