For hundreds of years, the skirl of the pipes have been used to call communities to action against a common foe, to summon courage and to boost morale when hope was challenged. So effective were the pipes in uniting and inspiring people that the English once banned them.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, AOH Division 3, Pearl River member Dermot Moore and his sons have played a nightly tribute at 7:00 PM, a time at which it has now become a tradition to honor those on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight, and to remember those whom this insidious disease has claimed.
Recently, Dermot and his sons Tommy and Conor were part of a tribute to health care professionals at Nyack Hospital organized by the Orangetown Police Department; the video may be seen below.
The response to the nightly call of the pipes to beat Covid-19 has been exceptional, reminding people that they are not alone in this necessary but unnatural period of social isolation. We ask all pipers to consider playing the pipes themselves in their neighborhoods as part of a regular tribute to essential workers and as a symbol that we will not surrender to despair.