WILKES – BARRE, LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) — One big part of most St Patrick’s Day parades around NEPA are bagpipe and drum bands.
In Pittston, Scranton, and now Wilkes Barre this year, multiple pipe and drum companies performed in each parade, but a lot of work goes into every aspect of the performance behind the scenes. Hours before the parade, the Penn York Highlanders, a pipe and drum band started in 1956, met to get ready. Putting on their uniforms, tuning their instruments, and partaking in some pre-performance rituals before making their way down Wilkes Barre’s city streets.
“I don’t think (viewers) realize how much goes in behind the scenes to make this actually come off, to put a band like this on the street,” explained pipe major Chris Waite. “We touched on the practice and the investment and the equipment, and it’s just, the hours and hours and the tuning. We’ll spend an hour tuning here. It looks nice when we get out onto the street and everything’s together, they don’t see what happens behind, and that’s what makes it all work.”
Outside of the preparation for Sunday’s specific parade, the highlanders have weekly practices and outside of reimbursements from parade committees, the members don’t get paid for the work, playing out of love for the art. Many said that they remembered watching the same band as a kid during parades and now, they’re part of it, keeping tradition alive until they think their time is up, or until they can’t.