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The Sound of Police Week
The Bagpipes & Drums of the Emerald Society Chicago Police Department takes the job of host band by storm at National Police Week
Story and Photos by Amber Ramundo
The band was halfway through its set when sirens echoed across the city. And then came the rain. It was the type of rain that instantly drenched the streets of Washington D.C.
Squad cars driving by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, where the National Emerald Society Conference Pipe Bands gathered, rolled down their windows to warn the crowd to take cover.
That was about the time Pipe Major Jon Harmening made eye contact with Drum Major Clint Wagner. They knew it was up to them to make the call for whether the Bagpipes and Drums of the Emerald Society Chicago Police Department played on de- spite the downpour.
Around them, other Emerald Society bands from across the country began to make an exit. At the flash of lightning, honor guard officers holding long metal flagpoles dashed for cover.
Wagner motioned for the pipers and drummers to hold their positions while he and Harmening assessed the scene in a “should we stay, or should we go” impasse. The monsoon soaked their wool kilts and slickened their grip on the instru- ments. But the band leaders agreed they were going to exit the memorial the same way they had entered that evening for the Annual Emerald Society Memorial March to the Memorial. Because the Chicago Police Department Emerald Society Bag- pipes and Drums was the 2018 Police Week host band and they had made the commitment to play in honor of the fallen, no matter what.
“We are the host band. We have to set the tone of what is ap- propriate and what is right,” Harmening reasoned despite the weather conditions. “We’re going to play out of here.”
Wagner’s voice carried above the downpour as he called for the band’s exit set. They were alone now; most of the crowd had taken cover at a nearby train station. But the sudden sound of the pipes and drums could be heard from a distance as the Em-
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Pipe Major Jon Harmening embraces the role as the leader of the Bagpipes & Drums of the Emerald Society Chicago Police Department at National Police Week.
The Emerald Society band supports the Philadelphia Police Law Enforce- ment Memorial Run with a performance during the arrival ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JUNE 2018 33