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"In the heart of the Tar Heel state --
situated in the Capitol County of Wake, is a band which virtually
appeared from nowhere and in short order has established themselves
as a serious Public Safety Band..." -
FirePiper
As, we imagine, with many pipe bands,
the formation of the Wake & District Public Safety Pipes and
Drums resulted from a fortuitous alignment of existing resources
and nascent desires.
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In 2005, under the
leadership of City of Clayton police officer and
long-time piper Joe Brady, the members of the Carolina
Pipes & Drums of the Emerald Society had worked in the
Johnston County area, in conjunction with the Clayton
Police Department and the Greater Raleigh Emerald
Society, to build a public safety pipe band. At
the same time, an interest in piping was growing within
the Wake County EMS Division as several interested
potential piping students pressed Wake County EMS Chief
and resident piper - Skip Kirkwood - to help them learn
to play the pipes. One of those interested EMS guys was
Assistant Chief Tony Crawford. |
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On May 6, 2006, while attending the
dedication of the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Memorial in
Raleigh, Officer Brady (that day
performing with the Charlotte Fire
Department pipe band) met Assistant Chief Crawford. A series of
meetings were held, which concluded with an agreement to form a new
band that would incorporate both the “Clayton contingent” and the
public safety community from Wake County and the surrounding areas.
A date was picked for an organizational meeting. Chief Kirkwood sent
a letter of invitation to 65 public safety agency heads in the
east-central region of North Carolina, soliciting participation of
pipers, drummers, and those interested in learning.
...on June 8,
2006, an organizational meeting was held at the EMS Training
Center in the Wake Commons Business Park. Some 50 law
enforcement officers, firefighters, and paramedics, and public
safety supporters attended. Experienced players began
“tuning up” and students were provided information about
obtaining practice chanters, drum sticks, and practice pads.
A regular schedule of Wednesday – Thursday practice sessions was
established, based at the Wake County EMS Training Center on
Carya Drive in Raleigh...
On July 9, another letter went out to
the public safety chief officers, inviting them to engage the band
for ceremonial occasions within their agencies. It didn’t take
long! Since then, the band or small ensembles have performed at
numerous
events.
Meanwhile, there was business to be done. Articles of Incorporation
for a not-for-profit corporation were filed with the North Carolina
Secretary of State’s Office on August 17, 2006, and the band began
it’s “legal” life. Bank accounts were opened, and the need for funds
became readily apparent.
A date was set for the band’s first official fund-raising event,
“the Tartan Ball,” which would be held on November 18, 2006.
An event committee, headed by Garner Firefighter and Tenor Drummer
Mike Bishop, assisted by Raleigh Fire Lieutenant Jason Lane and
Firefighter Lloyd Johnson, geared up and got to work. The event was
held at the Raleigh Fireman’s Club on Bay Leaf Church Road, and saw
a capacity crowd of over 250 fans, friends, and family. A
great time was had, with Irish and Scottish Dancers, a ceilidh band,
and of course the Pipes and Drums. This event netted $3,200, which
will go right toward outfitting more band members with Black Stewart
band kilts, as well as adding a couple of more drums to the mix...
2007 was a
year of great growth for the band!!!
With a little money in the bank at the end of
the first Tartan Ball, we began a serious effort to acquire Black
Stewart kilts and accessories for all band members. In the
meantime, the pipe corps and the drum corps continued to grow and
improve.
We established some firm relationships in the
public safety community. We were “center stage” for three
North Carolina
State Highway Patrol graduation ceremonies and one promotion
ceremony. The Highway Patrol does their ceremonies in a big way,
filling Dorton Arena at the state fairgrounds with troopers,
friends, families, and a vehicular history of the Highway Patrol.
The band “marches in” the recruits, and “marches out” the newly
sworn-in troopers.
The Raleigh Fire Department conducted several
promotion ceremonies this year. Those to be promoted were marched
into the council chambers at City Hall, and a newly established RFD
tradition now has the duty piper march the participants back to Fire
Station #1 for a reception after the official ceremonies. RFD also
held a huge “retiree reunion” at the
Keeter
Fire
Training Center,
where the band entertained hundreds of firefighters, active and
retired, and their families. In appreciation for our support, the
Raleigh Professional Firefighters Association (IAFF) donated funds
to purchase a new bass drum, which is watermarked with the RFD logo
behind the band name.
We participated in two major parades. The
first, the Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day parade, saw us teamed
with a tri-service color guard (Raleigh Police, Raleigh Fire
Department, and Wake
County EMS),
was followed by some on-the-street performances in
Moore Square and at Tir No Nog. The second
was a joint effort with the Charlotte Fire Department Pipe Band,
where we led the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Memorial
parade.
In May of 2007 we were officially awarded
501(c)(3) not-for-profit status by the Internal Revenue Service.
Individual band members
enjoyed some success in competition. Grayson
Cave placed first (in a field of 11
competitors) in Grade IV at the Eastern United States Pipe Band
Association indoor solo piping competition held in
Cary. At the Williamsburg, VA Scottish
Festival, Nyssa Cave took first place in Grade IV snare, Sterling
Cave placed first in Grade III snare 2/4 March, Grayson Cave placed
second in Grade IV Sr 6/8 March (playing above Grade level
indicated) and Matthew Kent rounding out the quartet of members
taking second place in Grade IV snare.
In between these, we
handled a bevy of “onesies and twosies” and “MIMOs” (march in, march
out), smaller events handled by ensembles, including fire station
christenings, fire recruit graduations, retirements, remembrances,
Law Enforcement Memorial Day, and the North Carolina Fallen
Firefighters Memorial Service in Chapel Hill. We also performed for
Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison’s very impressive swearing in
ceremony following his re-election in November.
On November 17, under the able leadership of
Pipers Jason Lane and Lloyd Johnson (RFD),
and Tenor Drummer Mike Bishop (Garner FD), the second annual Tartan
Ball was a huge success. Our upgraded venue at the Raleigh Sheraton
was filled to the brim, and our coffers were once again refilled to
continue our band outfitting effort! Nice going, guys. A great
time was had by all!

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