I played bassoon and string instruments in prior years. I had marching band experience, but never felt like that part of my life was done. A friend of mine from another bagpipe band convinced me that I should learn snare drumming. I searched locally, and reached out to Rory O’ Moore School of Pipes and Drums. Not only have I learned well, I still continue to practice and grow. Over the last three years, I have taken on the role of instructor at the school for snare drumming. It is very rewarding to pass on the knowledge I have gained. I love teaching snare to our youngest students. Being a part of Rory O’Moore is something special. Best of all, I have made many friends that I now call “family.”

I came to Rory O’Moore in December 2015 with hopes of learning to play the bagpipes. Shortly after beginning lessons, I started marching with the band as part of the Color Guard. In March 2019, I played in my first parade. The members of ROMSPD are a great group- welcoming students of every age. Our instructors are experienced, patient and encouraging- the absolute best! This has been a wonderful experience and I am glad that I took a chance and pursued my pipe dream.

Kerri joined the band in March 1995 after years of being a spectator at parades. She originally began learning the bagpipes but switched to the drums. Her father, the bass drummer for the State Police Pipes & Drums, taught her to play. Since 1999, she has been the primary bass drummer in our band and has played bass for the Grade 4 and 5 competition bands.

You are retired, never played a musical instrument but always loved the sound of the bagpipes – so what do you do? You join a pipe and drum band. Fifteen years ago I began taking piping lessons at the ROM School of Pipes and Drums. Several years later my wife Pat, joined me and began taking tenor drum lessons. (Nothing cooler than the grand kids saying Grandpa plays the pipes and Grandma plays the drums.) Together we have participated in all areas of the band – color guard, marching in parades, competitions and community events. Learning to play the music has been challenging and rewarding. What better way to keep our Senior minds active. However, the biggest reward has been the friendships we have made within our band family.Several highlights stand out in our minds – the appreciation shown on the faces of the spectators ( esp. veterans) when we perform – being part of the band’s 25th anniversary celebration, a truly family affair – and finally marching down Hunter Mt. during their last held Celtic festival and winning 1st place in our grade. ROMSPD can never be replaced!

Jim joined the band in 1998 as a newbie piper at the age of 48, having never played a wind instrument.  It is never too late to start chasing a dream!  He has been an active band member through the years, marching in parades and competing with the Grade 4 and Grade 5 bands.  After 46 years in the Information Technology profession, Jim has recently retired and is planning on spending many years pursuing his hobbies: model railroading, woodworking, playing guitars, doing home projects, bagpiping, and sharing his days with his wife Alice, who joins the band at most events.

Sean, at the age of 7, randomly decided one day that he wanted to be a part of the pipe band.  He arrived at Monday night lessons with a practice chanter, saw Bill Sclafani giving snare drum lessons, and left with a pair of drumsticks, then never showed up again for two years. At the age of 9, around St. Patrick’s Day, Sean asked his father if he could play bass drum with him at his elementary school.  His Dad said, “Sean, you don’t play the bass drum.”  To which Sean replied, “How hard could it be.” Sean played with his father that year at the school and then was the Grade 5 bass drummer for two years until he transitioned to the snare drum.  Throughout the next two decades, Sean was taught by Paul Wood and Bill Sclafani. He has received instruction from Eric Macneill, Derek Cooper, and Adrian Mordaunt. From 2018-2021, Sean was a member of the Ulster Scottish Pipe Band at the Grade 3 and Grade 2 levels. In March of 2023, Sean took over as lead drummer of the ROMSPD. As of this year, he is also a member of the St. Columcille United Gaelic Pipe Band’s Grade 3 contest band, under the tutelage of their, L/D Billy Gehringer. Sean is a second-generation band member playing along with his father and Pipe Major Keith Wood. 

Anthony joined the band in April 2018.  For years, whenever the pipes passed him at parades, he would ask his parents, “When am I going to start playing the bagpipes?”  At the age of 12, he took matters into his own hands and found ROMSPD.  With his musical background consisting of only his 3^rd grade recorder in music class, his family’s expectations were tepid at best… and then, magic happened.  Within a year, Anthony was marching with the band in parades, and the Grade 5 Competition set soon followed.  Within 2 years, he was competing solo piping at the Grade 4 level. The instruction he receives at the school is excellent and in a class all by itself.  Not only does he learn the notes on the page, he learns the meaning of discipline, accountability, and integrity from every member of the band.  When Anthony is not practicing on his chanter, he enjoys playing baseball with his friends and Meteorology Club at Black River Middle School.

Brendan Stulak is a high school student attending the Academy for Computer and Information Sciences at the Morris County School of Technology. After expressing an interest for years, his parents finally relented and signed him up for bagpipe lessons with the band in 2013. Brendan has had a great experience learning the pipes and has been a member of the parade band since 2017. In addition to playing the pipes, he’s a straight ‘A’ student and a Boy Scout working towards Eagle Scout. Brendan played Lacrosse and Basketball in Middle School, but is going to give Cross Country, Fencing and Golf a try in High School. He enjoys volunteering with the Scouts and his church youth group.

After growing up listening to pipe band music at my grandparents home, and going with them to the Altamont Games, I was always interested in learning to play the pipes. I couldn’t find a group that taught beginners and met on a night that I was free. Finally, in the fall of 1995, this new band formed and were looking for members. I found out through a letter that was sent to the church I belong to asking to put a notice in our Sunday bulletin. That’s how I found out about Rory O’Moore School of Pipes & Drums. So after much thought I decided to check it out. My first meeting was Dec 1995. That’s when I met Keith Wood, Matt Wood & Joe Sclafani. They welcomed me like I was family! The rest is history! Now, almost 25 years later, I have no regrets. I can’t imagine being in any other group. My family, wife Sue, daughters Anna & Hillary, all enjoy the band and the family like atmosphere the band has created.

I joined Rory O’Moore after watching them perform at the Morristown St. Patrick’s Day Parade. They were handing out materials inviting students to join the band. I have Irish Ancestry on both sides of my family and, upon attending the NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade as a kid (plus attending numerous St. Patrick’s Day parades as an adult) I have always wanted to be a part of this parade as a participant. I have always enjoyed the sound of bagpipes so this provided further motivation to join Rory O’Moore. Finally, when in High School, my family hosted a Irish Student (from Ireland) who was a bagpiper. Attending parades with him and talking about his experiences playing the bagpipes also provided motivation. I had no experience playing any instrument. I have been part of the band for approximately 6 years and it has been a wonderful experience. The instructors never give up on you and are always there to provide practical advice how to be become proficient playing the bagpipes.

I met the Wood family in 1989 at a St. Patrick’s Day parade. They told me the band they were in gave weekly bagpiping & drumming lessons & suggested I give it a try. I never played an instrument before but they sold me when they said, “There’s only 9 notes”. Playing my first parade the following March has turned into thirty plus years of marching in too many parades to count, competing with the band at the Grade 5 & Grade 4 levels and always having a blast with a great group of friends and musicians.

I always loved the sound of the bagpipes.  I decided that I wanted to learn to play the Pipes soon after my 59th Birthday.  I reached out to Rory O’Moore School of Pipes and Drums via the Facebook page. I Immediately heard back from Matt, and started lessons the next week. It was important for me to remember that everyone  learns at their own pace, the encouragement of the Instructors, and band members makes the learning process rewarding.  I was able to play in my first parade in Nutley in March 2020.  I have made some great friendships, I am glad to be a member of this great band family!

At the age of 66 and closing in on retirement, I decided to take up the snare drum in the hopes of joining pipe and drum band, something I wanted to do since my younger days. I chose Rory O’Moore School of Pipe and Drums because I was told by those in the know, that this was one of the better bands in New Jersey. After close to two years with the band, I know I made the right choice. I have been active in the Irish-American community in New Jersey for many years which includes serving as the Chairman of the West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade and as its Grand Marshal in 1994. I’m also an active member of the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh in West Orange as well as other Irish–American organizations. I’m married to Jayne Pendergast–McEnerney and between us we have five children.

My oldest son, Billy was the first to join Rory O’Moore as a drummer 23 years ago. He played and competed with the band and as a solo drummer for years. Since I was always around, I was asked to be in the color guard and the band soon became my family. My son Josh served in the color guard alongside me then played the bagpipes for a few years as well. For years I watched the tenor drummers in awe thinking I might try it “someday.” When my youngest son Michael decided he wanted to play the drums a few years ago, I finally decided that “someday” had arrived. With patient instruction by Deirdre Wood, I began taking lessons. Michael and I marched in our first St. Patrick’s Day parade together in 2019, it was a dream come true for me! My husband, Bobby joined the color guard in 2019 as well and we marched together as a family. With a huge amount of encouragement and support from Kerri-Lynn Walsh Wood and dedicated instruction by Lorna McGonigal Sheehan, I competed with the band for the first time in 2019…something I never thought I would be able to do! I consider it my greatest accomplishment to date! Michael also competed for the first time last February at the Metro Cup. Some of my family’s best friends and fondest memories were made with the band. Most importantly, over the past 23 years the Wood family and Rory O’Moore have been there for me through good times and bad. I am grateful for my band family and the guys who are the brothers I never had!

After months of watching her son, Anthony, develop into a piper at ROMSPD, Shannon decided it was time for her to have some fun, too, and picked up some tenor mallets for the first time. She joined the midsection of the parade band in March of 2019 and the Grade 5 Competition band soon after in May 2019, proving that it is never too late to learn a musical instrument. Shannon loves being a part of the Rory O’Moore family and often says, “After a lifetime of marching to the beat of my own drum, it’s nice to finally have some company!”

As a little girl I watched movies like Gunga Din (1939), Flame Over India (1959) and The Fours Feathers (1939). I loved the sound of the bagpipes and begged my parents to let me learn them. I got piano lessons instead. In fifth grade we all had to select a musical instrument and I asked to play the bagpipes but they were not offered. I thought this uniquely unfair as we were the Wayne Highlands School District (in PA) as evidenced by our band uniforms. I select the next best thing, the oboe. I played neither instrument more than a year each and the idea of playing the bagpipes was sidelined as I was tossed into college, then the workforce. Then, on St. Patrick’s Day in 2019, I met a piper at St. Moritz in Sparta, NJ. We struck up a conversation and he invited me to come to a session and give it a try. I attended my first class a few days before Christmas that year and have been enjoying the challenge since. Playing the Chanter is a very difficult and amazingly fulfilling. I’ve met some wonderful people in the band and can’t wait to get my pipes!

Paul has been playing in pipe bands for 30 years, beginning with the Cu’Chullain Pipe Band for 15 years. During that time, he played snare in the Grade 4 band as well as bass in their Grade 4 and Grade 3 bands. The band achieved Grade 4 “Champion Supreme” in 1988. Paul became our lead drummer in 1998. In 1999, Paul played with the Sean McGonigal School of Piping at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow in the Grade 4. The band took 8th overall and the drum corps placed a respectable 6th. He has taken lessons from Billy Mair, Martin Duffy, Gordon Bell, and Reid Maxwell. Paul is currently retired from playing drums due to health reasons but is still teaching snare drumming for our school and occasionally he will step off as Drum Major for our band at the Morris County St Patrick’s Day Parade.

Mark joined Rory O’Moore in October of 1995 with no previous experience. This newly formed organization was practicing in the church where he is a member. He felt like he fit right in and has grown with this family-oriented group.

Jeni Stephens-Sheard Owens is a former tenor drummer with Rory O’Moore. She was 32 years old.  Jeni played with the band in the early years when she was a teenager and during high school. 

Read Jenni’s obituary.