WNY IRISH FIREFIGHTERS & BAGPIPERS

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Comment by SMOKEnPipesJim on April 1, 2008 at 3:20pm

So all know this is the second of 3 Bagpipe Groups ON this site The largest is "bagpipes" and the newist is "pipes and drums" all three are fairly new groups, Pipes and drums starter is Jim from Ireland and a members ofan ambulance service there, his group has about 8 members and is nearly as active as this one.. Bagpipes is the largest group with nearly 50 members and was begun By a Piper from the Toledo ohio area and is also pretty quiet... Not to take away from any of the three groups because each is made up mostly of interested parties who arent band members there are a few bandies around... if anyone is interested in More about fire service pipe Bands I would suggest 1st stopping into "SMOKEnPipes" which was the worlds first Forum dedicated specificly to FIRE service pipe bands and is located at www.phpbbserver.com/smokenpipes It was founded in January of 2007 so the whole concept is pretty new, contrary to what many will have you believe, FDNY's Emerald Society Pipes and Drums was the first Modern Fire service pipe band and was founded in 1962/3, the only older FD pipe band in North America with any documentation may be Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Fire service bands in Ireland are also a fairly new thing although having a pipe band march with the fire companies is not , and in some areas of Scotland Fire service pipe bands attached to the national fire service in the late 40's
have been documented an example being Straythclyde Fire Brigade In more recent times areas of the Midlands and Manchester have sponsored and manned various organizations as Fire department/ Brigade pipe bands as well..
some as competition and some as Marching units not unlike our own North American bands... Most of the fire service bands concentrate on Playing events rather then competing in the ring , But its interesting to know how many variables there are out there from Volunteer Company sponsored pipe bands to Career Department groups to regional and municiple groups its also interesting to note regionally how one group influences the growth of others as some national events also effect growth and interest. ...for now..