Portadown Defenders Parade 18th August 2017

As the bus arrived in Portadown the heavens opened and there was a real down pour. It was so heavy that the rain started to come in the top of the drivers door of the bus as you can see in the photo. But thankfully it ended.

A big thank you to the Presbyterian Church as they allowed us to use their facilities.

We had a busy night on the bus and again we had new visitors as well as many of our regulars. One of the visitors gave me a real surprise - it was my friend Andy home from the Marines. It was great chatting to him. Also a big congrats to Andy who places in the Royal Marine Band, for his achievements and all the awards he wins. But he is so humble about the fact that he was awarded for being the best over all in year. Well done Andy - we are so priviledged to call you our friend.

There was a lot of chat about the Praise him on the Big Bass Drum event.

41 bands were at the parade and they stopped right beside the bus. So it was noisy at times but we managed to talk above it. A big thank you to all those who offered to help at the event. And thank you to Portadown Defenders for allowing us to attend their parade.

We were delighted to have a visit for Richard and Michelle McDonald. Richard is very much part of the band scene as he attends parades all over the north taking videos of the parade. It was lovely having a chat with them before the parade. They are a couple dedicated to the band scene. We are having more and more children from the bands calling and that is great. We have our regular callers who won't go home unto they have visited us.

 

For the photo gallery - please click here