The Indianapolis 500 Gordon Pipers/Horse Shoe Pipes and Drums are looking forward to performing at the Indianapolis Colts games this season.

“I have been with the band since 1969,” Doug Hardwick said. “The founder of the band, Dr. Wallace Gordon Diehl, was our neighbor as a child growing up in Pike Township. I heard the bagpipes and drums at a practice at the Diehl ranch and was hooked at age 9. I started playing in the eighth grade.

We play at all Indianapolis Motor Speedway events, and all Indianapolis Colts home games,” he said. “The best thing about being a member is seeing the joy in the eyes of people as we play. I also enjoy the smiles I see in the parade from young children and seniors. The heartfelt stories people tell me about being the bagpiper at a relative’s funeral, the unexplainable feeling I get honoring a fellow veteran as the family and friends pay the final respect – I have performed at over a thousand veteran funerals. I have performed for five presidents: Nixon, Ford, Bush, Bush Jr. and Obama. I have also performed at Arlington National Cemetery.”

Hardwick also enjoys meeting Colts fans, many of whom are from Center Grove and the southside of Indianapolis.

“Our job at the Colts games is tailgating with the fans,” he said. “The Irsay family takes very good care of the only NFL bagpipe band in the world. I love playing for Colts fans!”

Hardwick said that in 1957, Diehl started self-tutoring on bagpipes. In 1962 he and others got together to form a musical group known as the Gordon Pipers.

In 1962, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Owner Tony Hulman saw them perform at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Hardwick said that by 1963, they became the Indianapolis 500 Gordon Pipers.

Hardwick said the Gordon Pipers have enabled him to meet new people.

“The band has afforded me friendships worldwide,” he said. “I have met and become friends with people I would have never imagined. I ended up working in IndyCar from 1984 to 2010 because of my relationships created at the track marching. My wife, Patty, my sons, Derick and Jochen, along with my grandsons, Skylar and Ayrton, participated as well. I’m really living the dream.”

Hardwick said there are members in the group from different parts of the southside. The members include Steve and Tricia Dawson of Indianapolis, who have had a great time with the Gordon Pipers.

“I’m a retired teacher from Perry Township,” Steve Dawson said. “My wife, Tricia, plays bagpipes and joined in 2020. I enjoy the camaraderie and friendships with bandmates. Our goal is to present a high-quality, entertaining show.”

Connie Summers of Franklin said she has played the pipes in the band since 1968.

“I started out as a Highland dancer and then learned the bagpipes later,” Summers said. “I never dreamed I would still be playing with them. My daughter, Melissa Whybrew, started [with the Gordon Pipers] when she was 3 years old. She led the dogs in the Pipers when she was very young. She also competed in Highland dancing. She’s also a drummer and is now a dance instructor with the Pipers. My grandson, Carter Whybrew, is also in the Gordon Pipers.”

Summers said she likes to be able to travel with the Gordon Pipers.

“We traveled to Rhode Island and to Daytona, Florida,” Summers said. “We performed at the Nascar race in Daytona, which was fun. We have also been able to meet a lot of different people.”

Summers noted that the Gordon Pipers met singer Rod Stewart.

“We played for Rod Stewart in the 1980s and he waited around to get pictures with us,” Summers said. “We saw him again the next year and we gave him a soccer ball with all our names signed on it. We also performed at the Rolling Stones concert at the Speedway and met the Rascal Flatts band.”

Summers also loves being at the Indianapolis 500 race and the Colts games.

“I love walking around the track and seeing the fans at the Colts games,” Summers said. “I also enjoy being with everyone in the Pipers. We like to think of each other as family.”

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