The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Burst of pageantry
Cleveland International Tattoo at Public Auditorium the local culmination of National Police Week
Filling Cleveland’s Public Auditorium with pageantry, music, song, drill teams and dance, the Cleveland International Tattoo is an event you may consider attending on May 21.
It concludes National Police Week’s somber memorials to area police officers who have died in the line of duty.
“The Tattoo ends the Police Week observance on a high note, celebrating the region’s ethnicities,” said Cleveland International Tattoo Director Joe Gaither.
The loud and haunting music from a quartet of bagpipe bands will set the pace for a patriotic and emotional evening that begins at 7 that Saturday.
Those bands, each with drummers and up to 20 bagpipers in kilts, are the Cleveland Police Pipes and Drums and Red Hackle Pipes and Drums, both from Cleveland; The Gates Keystone Police Pipes and Drums, from Rochester, New York; and the Pittsburgh Firefighters Memorial Pipe Band.
The name “Tattoo” has nothing to do with the ink art applied to skin but instead is derived from the 17th-century Dutch phrase “doe den tap toe” (translation: turn off the tap), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to tell innkeepers near military garrisons to stop serving beer so soldiers would return to their barracks.
Ceremonial tattoos have been around for centuries, but in Cleveland, the connection to fallen police officers began in the late 1970s.
“That’s when the Chicago and New York City pipe and drummers came here to start the Cleveland Police Pipe Band,” Gaither said. “The first Tattoo in 1987 was held in a bar, but people loved it, and after that, the Tattoo grew so quickly that it moved to the Cleveland Armory and now it’s in Public Hall.”
Cleveland Public Auditorium, 500 Lakeside Ave. E., has seats for 6,000 people.
This year, 1,300 are expected for the Cleveland International Tattoo.
In 2014, attendance approached the 6,000-person mark, but it’s fallen off since then, Gaither said.
The pandemic closed the Tattoo down the last two years, but this year it’s back.
In addition to the four pipe bands, music will include that of the USMC Marine Forces Reserve Band, from New Orleans; North Coast Men’s Chorus; and a pair of high school bands. Also on hand will be the U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard Silent Drill Team from Washington, D.C.; Cleveland Police Honor Guard; Ohio National Guard Honor Guard; Akron City Schools Joint JROTC Color Guard; and the Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard, from Columbus.
Dancing troupes will include Scottish Highland Dancers from the Mayfield Heights-based Jenny May School of Dance; Egan Irish Dancers, from Chester Township; and Kashtan Ukrainian Dancers, from Cleveland.
Jenny May, who has been teaching Scottish Highland Dance for 30 years, said the competitive dance form was developed in Scotland in the 19th and 20th centuries.
”The movements are based on ballet,” she said. ”It’s a competitive and technical dance form requiring technique, stamina and strength.”
Those interested in lessons or wishing to book a show may call 440-781-7556 or visit jennymayschoolofdance.com.
Here are National Police Week events leading up to the Cleveland International Tattoo.
8 a.m. May 14: Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial Square, Huntington Park, Lakeside Avenue and West Third Street — Grave Marker Ceremony and Placement. After a brief ceremony, volunteers will travel the region to place markers on graves of officers commemorated on the Memorial.
7:45 p.m. May 16: Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial Square Candlelight Vigil.
8 p.m. May 19: Hero’s Welcome at Sausalito on Ninth, 1360 E. Ninth Street, Cleveland — Live music by New Barleycorn and complimentary appetizers.
10:30 a.m. May 20: Parade from Lakeside Avenue and East 12th Street to Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial Square, Huntington Park, Lakeside Avenue and West Third Street — Participants include officers from local, county, state and federal agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as surviving family members of officers who made the supreme sacrifice. Parade staging begins at 9:30 a.m. Memorial service follows at 11:30 a.m. at Huntington Park.
4 to 6 p.m. May 20: Fellowship at Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association Hall upstairs, 1303 W. 58th St.
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 21 at Double Tree Hotel, 1111 Lakeside Ave. Police Collectors Show. Details: 440-8217483; info@policememorialsociety.org.