Strike up the band: Oswego firefighters display their musical talents

The members of the Oswego Fire Protection District are committed to serving the community through battling fires and responding to other emergencies.

Some of those same firefighters feel committed to serve the community in another way as well – as members of the Oswego Firefighters Pipes and Drums Local 4773. The pipe band performs as part of events like the recent Veterans Day ceremony in downtown Oswego and the annual PrairieFest Parade in Oswego as well as at funerals for fallen comrades.

Oswego Fire Protection District Lt. Eric Roberts is manager of the unit. The Oswego resident has spent all of his 19-year firefighting career with the district.

Roberts has been with the pipe band since it first formed in 2012. He had never previously played a musical instrument before learning how to play the bagpipes.

“I had to work a little bit harder to keep up with some of these guys,” he said.

He chose to be a bagpipe player rather than a drummer in the pipe band.

“It’s a unique instrument and it’s unique to people’s ears,” Roberts said.

Oswego firefighter Ryan Dunning has been a member of the pipe band since 2018. Playing the bagpipes is a natural transition for Dunning, who played the alto saxophone as a youngster.

“It’s fun and it’s expressive,” he said. “People really appreciate us playing at funerals and, on the flip side, it’s fun to go out on Saint Patrick’s Day and do the more upbeat, fun tunes.”

Being part of the group also is another way for Dunning to bond with his fellow firefighters.

Helping the firefighters in their musical aspirations is music instructor Kate Longid, who specializes in private Celtic music instruction with a focus on bagpipes and tin whistle.

Longid lives next to the main fire station on Woolley Road in Oswego, where the firefighters in the pipes and drums unit practice twice a month.

She was introduced to the bagpipes at a young age through her father.

“It makes me feel different than any other instrument that I play when I play it,” Longid said. “There’s a powerful feeling. It’s a commanding instrument.”

She noted playing the bagpipes is not for everyone, especially given the fact that playing the instrument takes a great deal of lung power.

“This instrument will humble you every time,” Longid said. “There’s nothing else that can really prepare you for it, for the amount of air that you have to expel. So it’s something that everybody has to kind of ramp up into when they learn.”

Longid has been instructing the firefighters since the pipes and drums unit began in 2012.

“I was here on the first day with a table full of eager firemen eager to learn,” she said. “I love teaching in general. I love that part of it. I love working with the guys because there’s a nice sense of community here.”

Longid also will perform with the pipe band at different events when she can.

Oswego firefighter Nick Lettman has been playing drums in the pipe band for a little more than a year.

“It’s something that I enjoy just because it’s a nice thing that we can do to get out in the community and share a little bit of the fire service with them,” he said.

For Roberts, one of the best things about being in the pipe band is seeing how people react during one of the unit’s performances. He also likes being able to honor others, such as when the group plays at a funeral.

“To me, the big part of it is honoring others,” he said.