Clan Mackay North East Region
Your Regional
vice-president, Jeff Herbster.
I joined Clan MacKay
soon after moving to Maine from Williams, Arizona in 2002. It was the same year I met my wife Geri, so
it’s easy to remember. I’m
retired from the U.S. Navy, having worked in electronics and
telecommunications, then moved on, earning my Class A Commercial driver’s
license and I now drive a school bus. I
also hold an Extra Class amateur radio license, with the call sign AI1B.
My MacKay roots have
been traced back to 1802, when my Great-great Grandfather, Alexander McKay, was
born in Edinburgh.
Twenty four years later he was arrested, convicted and sent to Van Diemen’s Land, now known as Tasmania, where he became an accomplished explorer,
surveyor and was well known among the aboriginal tribes there.
Move forward in
time. My whole life has been involved in
music, starting with the violin in 1963, the guitar and bass guitar, oboe,
clarinet, and French horn. After
retirement from the U.S. Navy, I decided that my ancestry
was speaking to me to take up the pipes, which I did and have never looked
back. After achieving a Grade 1 ranking,
I decided that competition was getting too expensive so now I “play for
money” do many recitals for special events, as well as taking the time to
record 2 CD’s. One of the special events
was a highlight for me, I was designated the official piper of the Popham
Colony’s 400th anniversary; one of the oldest colonies in the US, second only by a year to Jamestown, Virginia.
I was also a recipient of a Clan MacKay scholarship, which allowed me to
attend one of the top piping schools in the United States, and study under Alasdair Gillies,
considered one of the world’s best pipers.
It has been an honor to
be involved with Clan MacKay, and especially to be asked to take the Regional
VP position upon Michelle Sandelier’s appointment as National
Vice-president.
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