jlee's blog

On behalf of the Tom McTigue Foundation, you are cordially invited to the Second Annual Tom McTigue Foundation Golf Outing on August 3rd, 2009 at the West Point Golf Course at the United States Military Academy.  Tom was a proud member of the Emerald Society, where he and his father, Tom McTigue Senior played in the band.  The FDNY was a major part of Tom’s life and we look forward to seeing some of our friends from the Emerald Society on August 3rd.  Final Details will soon be available on the Website.

Click here for details/evite (and feel free to send the evite to others!!!)  

Points of contact are Brooks Chretien (917-414-3925 / bchretien@cisco.com) or Brian Fitzgerald (917-749-1103 / brian.fitzgerald@gmail.com)

The FDNY Pipes and Drums is happy to announce that we have added two more playing members to our ranks. Dan Saalfrank Ladder 169 passed his Side (snare) Drum audition in early March and Jerry Wood Ladder 143 passed his piping audition in early April. These two have been very active in the Color Guard for the past year and a half and we are happy to finally have them in the ranks. Again fella's congratulations!!

We are sad to announce the passing of Bill McDaniel, Bill was an active member of the Pipe Band in the 1980's. Bill was appointed to the FDNY in 1968 and was assigned to Engine 46-2, he transferred to 38 Truck in the Bronx and worked there until he was promoted to Lieutenant. He worked as a Lieutenant in 6 Truck and eventually 3 Truck in Manhattan which is where he retired from. Bill will be missed by his former band mates and co-workers. The info for his wake and funeral are listed below.

Wake to be held at:
Schuyler Hill Funeral Home
3535 East Tremont Avenue
Bronx, New York 10465
(718) 792-0270
Monday 3/2 and Tuesday 3/3 2PM - 5pm and 7PM - 9PM

Funeral on Wednesday 3/4 at 11 AM

St Mary Star of the Sea Church
595 Minneford Avenue
City Island, Bronx NY

John Martin Bradley of West Orange, NJ and Instructor for the FDNY Pipes and Drums was invited to play against some of the best pipers in the world at the Annual Metro Cup. On Saturday, February 21st, 2009 the Metro Branch of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association will host the annual Metro Cup Invitational Solo Piping Championship as well as the Pipe Major George M. Bell Amateur Championship.  These events will take place at the Holiday Inn North on Frontage Road in Newark, New Jersey. The Professional events start at 1pm. The Band would like to extend our most sincere congratulations to John on this great honor. John was moved to the professional level in 2008 after an extremely successful season in grade 1. We wish him the best of luck. For more info on the Metro Cup please visit their web site.

 http://www.themetrocup.com/

Joe Buell, a long time member of the FDNY Pipes and Drums, passed away suddenly at his home today, January 9th. Joe was a Tenor Drummer with the band. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. All the details for the wake and funeral are below:

Wake:   Tuesday Jan.13, 2 pm- 5 pm only,
            Carmona- Bolen Funeral Home
            66 Lacey Road Whiting N.J.
            Phone: 732-350-0003
 
Funeral: Wednesday Jan. 14, 10 am
             St. Elizabeth Ann Seton R.C. Church
             30 Schoolhouse Road Whiting N.J.
             Phone: 732-350-5001
            

The FDNY Pipes and Drums held its Bi-Yearly election for the executive board positions. All but one of the incumbents was re-elected into their positions. The Secretary for the past two years and former Chairman Jim McEnenany decided not to seek re-election so he could spend more time on the golf course and less time in front of a computer screen. Jim Lee from Ladder 147 will take Jim's place for the next 2 years.

 The rest of the Executive Board is as follows: Chairman Liam Flaherty of SOC, Vice Chairman Brian Grogan of the Queens FM Base, Treasurer Brian Kearney of L30, Quartermaster Kevin O'Hagan of the Marine Division, Drum Sergeant Ted Carstensen of L40, and Pipe Major Jerry Brengel of E287.

Pipe Major Jerry Brengel of E287 has announced his Pipe Sergeants for the next year.  

They are, Butch Scarpinato of E289, Billy Woods of L38, Joe Killeen of R3, Joe Duggan of the 8th Division, and our newest Pipe Sergeant Brian McMahon of E35. Congratulations to all the new members of the leadership team of the FDNY Pipes and Drums.  

It is with deep regret that the FDNY Pipes and Drums announces the passing of active member and Bagpiper Dennis O'Connell. Dennis was a supervising dispatcher in the Bronx CO and has been a member of the band since 1977. He was the first Non-Uniformed member that played in the Pipe Band and held some executive board positions. He will be missed very much by the members of the band. Funeral arrangements for Dennis are as follows:

The wake will be held at the Skyler Hill Funeral parlor which is located at 3535 East Tremont Ave in the Bronx.

Times are Tuesday 10/21 from 7pm - 9pm and Wednesday 10/22 from 2pm - 5pm and 7pm - 9pm

The Funeral will be held on Thursday 10/23 at St. Mary Star of the Sea on City Island Ave at Cross Street. The Mass will be held at 10AM.

Please feel free to leave a comment in the guestbook for the O'Connell family and the band. Guestbook 

On Sunday September 21st the FDNY Pipes and Drums went out for the last competition of the season. The band has had a pretty successful season so far and wanted to have a strong ending to it. We played our Quick March Medley set. The band ended up placing second, we recieved a 1st and 2nd in Piping, a 2nd in drumming and 3rd in Ensemble. The band put on a strong performance and is definitely looking forward to competing next year.

On Saturday September 20th the band played at the Great Irish Fair at Keyspan park. The fair honored Battalion Chief and President of the UFOA Jack McDonnell. To see the big picture of the band with Chief McDonnell click this link

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers a group that brings Rock to the Bagpipes is returning to the USA in September to do a show in CT. The Chilli's were kind enough to come to the States last November and put on a show that helped raise funds for the band and two of our favorite charities. We welcome them back to the USA and look forward to seeing them again. For more info on their show click the link below. 

The Pipes in the Valley Celtic Festival 

 The Red Hot Chilli Pipers