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ChemEd 2009 will be opened with the Virginia Highlands Pipe and Drum.
The Virginia Highlands Pipes and Drums were formed in 1983 with three pipers and one drummer. By 1986 the band had grown to eight pipers and four drummers. Those early band members’ occupations included a telephone engineer, a railroad pricing specialist, a paving contractor, two college professors, an electronics-steel engineer, a church minister of music, a college student, two high school students a television news anchor, and a retired physician. That retired Roanoke physician, Dr. John L. Harris, Jr., has been given a great deal of credit for organizing the band, and served as the band’s first pipe major. Myron C. White, Jr., also of Roanoke, was the band’s first drum sergeant, and Kenneth Swisher the first pipe sergeant.
Early on, however, the band was able to purchase MacFarlane tartan kilts with the help of a grant from the Scottish Society of the Virginia highlands, and so was able to dress pipers and drummers uniformly, i.e., in uniforms. An important band tradition also began in 1984 when the band played for Radford University 's spring graduation. Since then the band has become a “regular” at Radford University's graduations, and for a number of years has played for both the winter and spring graduation ceremonies — their unofficial pipe band. Radford University 's tartan is also MacFarlane.
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Dr. Francis Webster with the help of Radford University students and alumni will present The Magic of Chemistry, an age appropriate program focused on fostering a better understanding and appreciation for the role of chemistry in society. Since 2002, over 150 invited presentations have been given with the an outreach team involving nearly 40 Radford University chemistry majors. The team has engaged over 12,000 students, parents, and teachers in many K-12 schools and other informal settings across the region.
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