October 2008 News

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 also 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 Wednesday 10/22 from 2 PM to 5 PM and from 7 PM to 9 PM.

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 10 AM.

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

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The FDNY Pipes and Drums would like to announce the hiring of a new Piping Instructor. The band has hired John Martin Bradley of Orange, NJ. He replaces Brian Meagher of New York, who has been with the band since 1995.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints with his new job, Brian was no longer able to contribute his time and teaching skills to our band. Brian contributed an unlimited amount of knowledge to the Pipe Band over his 13 years and undoubtedly took the band to a higher standard of playing.

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E273/L129 Centennial on Wednesday October 22, 2008 at 11 AM.
The FDNY Pipes and Drums will be playing at the 100th anniversary celebration of these two companies. The firehouse is located at 40-18 Union St., Flushing, NY.

Funeral for FDNY Pipes and Drums member Dennis O'Connell on Thursday October 23, 2008 at 10 AM.
The FDNY Pipes and Drums will be playing at this funeral for one of our own. The funeral will be held on Thursday, October 23, at St. Mary Star of the Sea on City Island Ave. at Cross Street. The Mass will be held at 10 AM. Dennis will be missed and it is the band's honor to send him off.

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FDNY Pipes and Drums played at the Great Irish Fair in Coney Island.
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.

Hiring the Pipe Band is as easy as going to web site and filling out a small form.
Once we receive your information, one of our representatives will get back to you as soon as possible to make the appropriate arrangements. To hire us, click here.

On the go? Bring the band!
We are happy to announce that you can now purchase and download the MP3’s of our 1982 and 1997 albums. This is so our non-iPod users can enjoy our music on their MP3 players. To go to our digital store click here. As always, our iPod users can still go to the iTunes store to download our music there.

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