The Georgetown Fire Department Pipes and Drums will perform one of their first major events since the Covid-19 pandemic on September 11.
Assistant Chief Jeff Davis, the pipe major of the band, currently leads eight pipers, who include firefighters and two police officers. The group also features three to four snare drummers and a tenor drummer who twirls soft, fuzzy mallets.
Mr. Davis said he was inspired to start the group in 2006 after attending the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis, where he saw a bagpipe performance by another firehouse.
Shortly after, he and his wife took a trip to Ireland, where he met a street bagpiper who gave him a practice instrument and showed him the ropes.
Mr. Davis said he worked to create a firehouse bagpipe group that would accompany the honor guard at various ceremonies, including funerals and holiday events.
The tradition of firehouses and police stations having bagpipe groups stems from Irish and Scottish immigrants, many of whom became firefighters and police officers in America. Garey Jackson, a captain at Georgetown Fire Station 6 on B shift, explained these groups would play bagpipes at the funerals of fallen colleagues to honor their heritage.
“Being in the pipes and drums is more than just for yourself, it’s for other people,” he said. “I think the group of people who are in the pipe bands are above and beyond the typical employee. They’re wanting to give more of themselves to their brothers and sisters.”
Although successful for a decade, before the pandemic, the group started dwindling due to the members being burnt out. For the first responders, performing for an event over the weekend meant getting up early and losing much needed rest.
However, during the pandemic, the group got together to play at the funeral of Michelle Gattey, a Georgetown police officer who died of Covid in 2021. Coming out of the pandemic, there’s been a revived push to perform and add new members, including police officers.
“We’re trying to find that hap- py medium where it’s fun and doesn’t feel like a job,” Mr. Davis said. “We used to count on trying to bring the older members back in even though they had drifted away. The future is in getting some of these newer people [in-volved]. The more pipers you’ve got, the easier it is. If you forget the tune, you can pause and then jump back in.”
Upcoming engagements include the September 11 Memorial Stair Climb at the Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex at 8 a.m. and the memorial service in Sun City at 11 a.m.
The band has been meeting to practice as a group once a month to prepare for their upcoming performances. Playing the bag- pipes is physically demanding, and at the Stair Climb, the band will be playing while climbing 2,007 steps—each step in honor of a first responder who lost their life on 9/11. This level of multitasking requires significant cardiovascular endurance, Mr. Davis said.
Another performance will take place on October 17, when the bagpipe group will play at a charity event at First Baptist Church that supports Faith in Action fundraiser.
As Mr. Davis approaches retirement in a few years, he hopes to leave the group in the hands of Mr. Jackson, who is currently second in command with the group.
“It will be nice, when I retire, to have Jackson herd the cats,” Mr. Davis joked. “I’ll just get to show up and he’ll tell me where to stand.”
Although he doesn’t want to be lead piper forever, Mr. Davis does want to continue to be involved with the organization after he retires. He said the band is a great way for retired firefighters and law enforcement to stay involved with the firehouse.
“The [retired] band members can come back and play at the promotional ceremonies and so they’re actually getting to meet the new people,” he said. “I think that the band allows our members to stay in the loop.”