D.C. firefighters band headlines IHF march

By Karen Blackledge
The Danville News

July 19, 2008 04:00 am

— DANVILLE -- Their bellies full from a spaghetti feast hosted by the Danville Family Moose Center, 42 Washington D.C. professional firefighters led the Iron Heritage Festival Parade honoring firefighters Thursday night.
Dressed in white shirts, tartan kilts, spats and horsehair sporons, the bagpipe and drum players of the Washington, D.C., Fire Department Emerald Pipes and Drums Society performed for Danville, a treat made possible by a $5,000 grant obtained by state Rep. Robert Belfanti.
While the musicians and color guard are volunteers who volunteered their vacation time to attend, the grant donation goes toward uniforms, equipment and travel expenses, said bagpipe player and band manager Peter Elliott.
Elliott said each uniform costs nearly $3,000. A set of bagpipes costs $1,800 and drums cost between $500 and $800.
"It's a great honor as a fellow firefighter to play for the hometown parade," said Elliott. He said the crew does not fight honoring tradition either, everyone wears the traditional kilt.
The band, in its sixth year, is the second largest of its type along the Eastern Seaboard. Festival Chairman Sis Hause located them online six months ago while searching for a firemen's band.
"I am so thrilled you guys could make it today to play music for the local firefighters," Hause told the musicians before the parade.
Not just a traveling band, the firefighters handle an average of 140,000 emergency responses a year, manning 33 stations to protect 1 million people. On weekdays, the number of calls can swell to 2.5 million, said Elliott, a driver-operator and firefighter for nine years.
"Every day in our city -- you would never believe it. It's a different environment. All firefighters have the same goal -- to get the fire out, help people and go home," he said. Elliott began his volunteer fireman career in Maryland in 1987.
Having recently transferred to the rescue squad, Corporal bagpipe player Jim Mazzara said, "I've been to enough fires that are dangerous and some medical calls can be dangerous."
Luckily, the members of the band have a musical outlet to cope with the danger.
Traveling from town to town is another advantage of being in the band, according Mazzara, a charter member.
"(The band is) a great time," said the The Corporal bagpipe player. "We do wonderful events and go places we never would have gone without it."
At least one member of the band, retired lieutenant Bob Purdy, has some previous general knowledge about the Susquehanna Valley. Purdy recalled being in Shamokin as a child for its Bicentennial after riding the Reading excursion from Philadelphia.
"I have never seen so many fire engines before or since," the bagpipe sergeant said. "I imagine some of them will be here tonight and some are antiques now."
The 26-year career fireman said the band is a "wonderful tradition and a wonderful ambassador for our city (Washington, D.C.)."
"I'm really happy to be here. It looks like a wonderful town," he said.
The town was happy to have them visit. Trevor Finn, a Danville volunteer firefighter and a Montour County Commissioners chairman, and fellow commissioner and former firefighter Jack Gerst welcomed the group along with Ray Mausteller of the Moose. Mausteller, a Moose governor and parade committee member, commended cook Jeff Forsyth and assistant Carol Vognetz on the welcome dinner.
Following the parade, the band played a concert at Southside Fire Company in Riverside, then hit the road because some firefighters had to be back on duty tonight.
During their stay in Danville, the band stayed in dontated rooms at The Quality Inn and traveled in buses provided by Tour World.
E-mail comments to kblackledge@thedanvillenews.com.

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