Ben Adelman wore new chevrons on his green Highland tunic when he and his wife Evangeline marched side-by-side down a Groveland sidewalk Thursday, bagpipes droning, high-stepping in unison before a crowd gathered under the trees at Langley-Adams Library.

The stripes mark a bittersweet moment. Adelman, a bagpiper since ninth grade, became pipe major of the Campbell Highlanders Pipes & Drums after the June 8 death of Bruce Campbell, the lifelong Andover resident who led the band for years and taught students young and old to play. "We had a band meeting. Somebody said who should be the band leader, and I was the last one to go 'Not it,'" Adelman said with a laugh during the concert, as reported by the Eagle-Tribune.

The man whose shoes he's now filling.

The Campbell Highlanders are a traditional Scottish bagpipe and drum band based in the Andover and North Andover area, founded by A. Morris Campbell before his son Bruce took over, marching in hundreds of Merrimack Valley parades until lung cancer forced him to set down his kilt and sporran for good. He was 75. Bruce attended Andover public schools, graduated with highest honors from Bentley College, and spent his career as an accountant at General Electric — but around town, neighbors knew him simply as one of the best bagpipers in the Merrimack Valley, carrying on his father's tradition of teaching students of every age.

A new generation picking up the thread.

Now the Adelmans are the ones carrying it forward. Evangeline learned bagpipes shortly after the couple married, and works as youth services librarian at Langley-Adams Library — the very venue where the pair performed this free outdoor concert. Between tunes, they explained the mechanics of the instrument: the player fills a bag with air and squeezes it under one arm to keep the sound flowing without ever pausing for breath.

The couple wore matching green uniforms — full Highland tunics, wool kilts using about 4 yards of fabric each, and sporrans, the waist pouches that stand in for pockets. The band's name honors the historical Scottish infantry regiments that served in the British Army in the 1700s.

Residents crowded together under the trees, setting up lawn chairs and blankets for the free show. At one point, a five-year-old named Wesley Clark joined the Adelmans on stage to help demonstrate how the band marches — a small glimpse, maybe, of where this tradition heads next.

No upcoming performances for the Campbell Highlanders have been announced yet.