Rob from Firepipersupply.com Report on the Lewisville Symposium

I made the drive to Lewisville TX, from Bloomington IN solo, in protest of airline fees they wanted for me to change a pre-existing ticket…I sure showed them… 12 and half hours after leaving I arrived in much warmer Frisco TX, just down the road from Lewisville.  Mind you, I imagine I missed out on much of the theatrics that no doubt went on at the hotel, but this is my report from the symposium.  I expected to arrive Thursday morning to find 30 to 40 firefighters gathered for the event.  I walked into the lobby of the Hilton to find firefighters milling about everywhere, much like you find at the FDIC.  The back half of the hotel, the conference space was loaded with firefighters.  There was a long line to register, and firefighters coming and going in the requisite t-shirts and some kilted.  There were chiefs and honor guard and even COPS!!  I milled about, collecting a goody bag and a LFD Pipes and Drums t-shirt. I finally tracked down some guys from Dallas, as I was supposed to meet Allen Richards, and turns out their bass drummer Otto went to Indiana University, my alma mater and current hometown….small world.  Met up with Allen, traded some shirts and uniform stuff, and tracked down the guys from Grapevine also.  Jerry and the boys were nice enough to offer me a seat at their table for opening ceremonies.  LFD P&D opened up as the colors were presented and Chief Lasky and Bobby Halton alternated with keynote addresses.  The one thing that stuck with me was this; Chief Lasky convinced the powers that be in Lewisville that honor, tradition, drill and ceremony are important to firefighters, and firefighters are important to communities and so the community of Lewisville has responded with tremendous support.  It is amazing and sad, sad that they are the exception rather than the rule. Chief Lasky went on to explain that it is important that we not save our pipes and drums, our Class A uniforms for funerals and memorials.  We have to honor our firefighters WHILE THEY ARE HERE, WHILE THEY ARE LIVING.  Not when they retire, or god forbid die, but today….. It wasn’t 20 minutes into the symposium that I had realized I was taking part in something special, and my email to my kids that night said so. You could just tell by the attitude of the people in the room this was going to be a great two days. We broke for some networking and a fantastic lunch provided to all attendees courtesy of LFD and the Hilton, and jumped into the learning we were there to do.  There were 3 piping groups, as many drumming, and honor guard as well.  Instructors from the National Honor Guard Academy facilitated drill and ceremony exercises outside and in classrooms, beginner pipers worked on embellishments as the drummers did their best to drown everyone out (Sorry guys)  I hopped back and forth from beginner to intermediate, picking up some pointers on Scots Wa Hae and tuning the drones too.  By days end we were ready for the evening festivities, so we donned our kilts and headed down to old town for a block party in front of city hall.  The street was closed off, and we played massed band on the steps of city hall for the cheering crowd.  Free beer flowed for pipers, drummers and honor guard, and free BBQ too.  The North Texas Caledonian band played a set, and the rest of the evening was a series of jams, including several with Ty Fry on Tenor and James Kilpatrick on snare.  As the party wound down, we did a mini pub crawl, first to the Flying Pig and then to Tierneys, where I understand the PD had to chase us off b/c of a noise complaint. Day two was more learning of tunes and techniques, culminating in massed band marching outside, which was good for me because I suck at marching.  We also got to see a high school honor guard drill team perform with parade rifles, very cool.  Those kids have their stuff together.  For the evening several of us hit the restaurant row near the hotel, playing at BJs brewpub, BW3, and Twin Peaks steak house.  We gathered and tuned in the parking lot and intended on playing BW 3s first but a patron from BJs enticed us with an offer to buy the whole band a round.  Who are we to argue with free beer?  An old friend of mine joined us which meant a great deal to me personally, to be able to play for him and his sig. other… After a quick set it was off to BW3s where wouldn’t you know it someone bought a round for the band…..we may be onto something here.  Another quick 4/4 and 3/4 and we were out the door.  Evidently we were trying to hit as many joints as we could before a Dallas Stars hockey game???? If you have never been to a twin peaks restaurant before, put this down right now and go find one.  The girls there make Hooters look like Denny’s.  Plaid halter tops, khaki short-shorts and ugg boots….I cant say what I want to say here……wow… After serenading a girl on the patio w/ Happy Birthday, we headed in to cheers and knocked out another set.  Rakes was especially fun.  And I’ll be darned if at the end of the hooting and cheering, some generous patron bought a round of drinks for the band.  We hung there til it was time for me to head back to Frisco for a decent nights rest before the long drive home.  The symposium is going to be a huge event, in fact I talked to Phil from Cleveland and Gary from Lewisville and mentioned it could grow to be too big someday….but we all agreed it was a special event, one we’re not likely to forget.  Once back at the hotel we lingered outside the front door for another half hour, reminiscing the experience, the friendship and fun.  When I went to leave, my handshake was returned with a hug, and the two guys I had met only yesterday were my brothers….. I am grateful to LFD for putting this on, for seeing to it that the attendees were so well taken care of.  And I am grateful more so to Allen, and Jerry, and Phil, and Dave, and Gary, Ferg, the Idaho Falls guys, and everyone else who was their for reminding me what brotherhood is about….. Our lives are marked by milestones that we will remember forever, stories that we will share with our kids and grandkids….and the KTA symposium was one of these…………………………… Rob firepipersupply.com

Ryan from Band of Brothers Report from Lewisville Symposium

My official re-cap of what I remember about the "Keeping Tradition Alive" symposium.........   Off the bat, I would like to both thank and congratulate the City of Lewisville (TX) and the Lewisville Fire Department on such a great time.  Hospitality was of the highest caliber and with 200+ in attendance, we could not have asked for anything more.  Between food, beverages, transportation, and the classes themselves, I don't think there was a soul that wasn't satisfied.  That being said, let's reminisce........   Wednesday   Started the day by throwing on my Texas wear (Shorts, T-Shirt, and flip-flops) before even leaving the house.  Didn't care if it was 40 degrees and rainy, the longer I stood in my front yard waiting for my dog to do his business, the more I was looking forward to getting out of dodge.   Flights were OK (I changed out of Detroit), no luggage was lost, little rough on the landings, but I think that's just about par for the course with Northwest Airlines, at least from my experiences.   My phone did not even get a chance to load my "Five Faves" in the Dallas/Fort Worth Terminal before it was ringing off the hook.  "Hey, Ryan, it's Turtle......."   Conrado Martinez, a.k.a. "Turtle" is the Bass Drummer for the Lewisville Firefighter's Pipes and Drums.  Dude gave me the biggest man-hug ever when he met me at the baggage claim, since I had not seen him since FDIC 2006.  He was riding with a guy that only had two days on the job.  He was obviously new, referring to me as "sir" and trying to pry my bags out of my hand.  I ended hitching a ride back to the hotel with Terry McGrath and his dog "Reetha."  First question- "Hey, do you need to stop anywhere, maybe Wal-Mart, so you can pick up some beer for your room?"   As a matter of fact, Terry, let's go find us a six-pack of Lone-Star beer and an 18oz. hunk of bull ass and get this party started.  Yee-Haw..........   The Heart of Texas FOOLS was sponsoring a "meet and greet" at the hotel Wednesday evening.  It was nice to get a chance to see some of the guys that I may only see once or twice a year.  Hunter Schappaugh, Koy Wilson, Ferg...... I can't help but laugh the second I see those guys.  Scott Thompson from Lewisville gave me the best introduction one could ask for...... "Hey everybody, this is Ryan..... He's from the Band of Brothers up by Chicago, don't bother introducing yourself, he won't remember your name tomorrow, but you'll remember his!"  Thanks, brother.......   By the way, word to the wise, if you tip big the first round, you'll never go thirsty.  The server Juan-Jose, or "Jay Jay" as I called him, did not disappoint one bit.  You're the man......   Dinner and drinks followed.  Turtle said that he would chauffer me and Jimmy Sewnig from Chicago FD around if he could have the open bed in my hotel room, so he didn't have to make the back and forths to his house.  Apparently Lewisville is a pretty big town, so hey, giddy-up, right?  Bar after bar after bar and as soon as I thought we were going home, we went to another bar.  Thanks, Turtle......... Sandbagger.......   Thursday   Symposium started at 0800.  I got there at 0915, just in time to hear Chief Lasky's closing remarks, although, I do distinctly remember that he said that the time to honor your brothers and sisters is not when you're standing next to their gravesite, but now when they're standing next to you.  I probably won't forget that one.   And yeah, by the way, thanks to Damion Roberts for calling me out in front of everyone.  Guy's standing there at the podium talking about how the shuttle's are only going to run until 2230 that night and if I was going to make it.  My only response...."Don't worry, Turtle's got my back."   Spent the whole day practicing and practicing some more.  Double this, birl that, grip this, etc.  The instructors were great.  Pipe Major Don Shannon, Greg McWilliams, and some dude they simply called "Seamus" from the North Texas Caledonia Pipes and Drums instructed the pipers.  The drummers were top notch, too.  Premier Drums sponsored Jim Kilpatrick (The greatest side drummer in the history of the world) and World-Champion Tenor-Drummer Tyler Fry.  They were also joined by Steve Cameron, a side drummer that went to the worlds with various bands for something to the tune of 12 years in a row.   Thursday evening consisted of performing for the City of Lewisville on the steps of City Hall, a performance by the North Texas Caledonia Pipes and Drums, and solo drum performances by Steve Cameron, Jim Kilpatrick, and Tyler Fry.  All I can say is wow, amazing, can't wait to re-live it when it shows up on YouTube.   They provided us with some authentic Texas-style Bar-B-Que, and 4 free Miller beers.  8 beers later, I was ready for the party.  We took the entire pipe band and then some into the local establishments and hit'em hard.  So, at about 1100pm, we realized that NOBODY was going to make the 1030 shuttle, DAMION!!!!!!!!  Anyway, 2 am rolled around and we were told that the party was over, no questions asked, get in the shuttle and, unless you wanted to go to the waffle house or IHOP, sit back and enjoy the ride to the hotel.   Friday   0830 Friday came much sooner than I wanted it to.  We played all day long, practicing formations with the drummer’s non stop.  Did some massed band marching outside with the honor guard walking in a parking lot for photo and video ops.  Got to see a demonstration of serious business marching from the local ROTC. That was cool.  Again, top notch instructing.   Later that night, Turtle and I went to Fort Worth to see some live bull riding at Billy Bob's Texas.  Biggest bar I've ever been in. www.billybobstexas.com see it for yourself.  Left there for a small bar crawl throughout the Fort Worth Stockyards, rolled back into the hotel about 0145.  Everything in between is a blur.  Sorry.   Saturday   I guess the only downfall to Saturday was the fact that I realized that because I was so excited about leaving to go to Texas, I didn't pack clothes for the weather in Chicago.  So, when my flight landed in Chicago 30 minutes early and my ride showed up 30 minutes late, I was friggin' freezing.  But hey, I probably deserved it.   Thanks again guys, definitely one for the books.  Great job all around, and Turtle, Brotherhood is an understatement........   See you in the Springs.   Ryan bobpd.com

Phil from Cleveland Fire Report on Lewisville Symposium

As certainly some of you know, Lewisville, Texas, held their Inaugural Firefighter Pipes, Drum & Honor Guard Symposium, this past Thursday and Friday (May 1st and 2nd). I was fortunate enough to be able to attend and of course saw some familiar faces, to name a few, Ferguson from Palm Beach, Hornback from Hammond's Band of Brothers, Dave Thiesing, from Indy's band, and Coitt Kessler, from Austin. Of course there were many, many, more, but too many to try to list and I would be bound to forget to add a few if I tried.   I think most everyone attending was amazed at the all out support that Lewisville's Dept. had from the entire staff of the city's administration.  This town's leaders, from the mayor down, are without a doubt, totally fire & police friendly, as they go all out to support them and their efforts of representing their departments. To give you an idea of this city's support, they approved a station to put a swimming pool in the back of the station, for dive training. Try running that idea past one of our city heads and watch how fast it would get shot down.   This symposium had such reputable instructors such as Don Shannon, who has more than 35 years of piping history, is a numerous competition award winner and has played for many dignitaries such as the Queen and Prince Charles. He is currently the pipe major of The North Texas Caledonia Pipes & Drums. Steve Cameron, one of the drumming instructors, from what I understand, has won double world championships. He has a light sense of humor that tends to disarm the tension that a novice might initially have, being in the presence of someone as accomplished as he is. The accolades for Jim Kilpatrick are just way too long for me to even try to begin to list here, save that he has been playing since he was 10 years old and not only has countless awards, broken solo drumming records, played for England's dignitaries, but also still teaches drumming in schools and colleges all over the globe. And for the tenors, there was "Ty Frye." Need I say more? For the Honor Guards, one of the instructors was a retired USMC, Gunnery Sergeant. This guy has to be a perfectionist, because these guys he worked with, their movements became about as crisp as crackers.   What was so great was that even with these people's amazing, renowned, reputations and abilities, is that no one felt intimidated or inferior to them nor from their lessons. Everyone that were at this symposium, I would wager to say, left feeling a little stronger and more confident in their own abilities. Everyone had a smile on their faces until they realized that the two day event was done and it was time to go home.   Why am I relaying all of this? Simple. Good news such as this, should be shared too. Lewisville is already in the process of planning next year's symposium, where they want to make it even bigger and better (though I can't begin to imagine how) They provided transportation to and from the airport, they had meals and snacks for us and breaks in the classes to walk about and check out the vendors, which were in idyllic modest numbers. And during these breaks, the instructors didn't seem too mind at all, one on one inquiries. This really was an incredible time to be had, that I was extremely lucky to have been able to take part in and that I would strongly recommend anyone that might be interested, to keep a watch out, for the posting of their next year's event and plan to check it out. The potential for this event of Lewisville's is nothing short of tremendous.   Phil   clevelandfirepipers.com