Personality+: Loy Latham Bagpiper

By Cara Sievers

Loy Latham, president of Avaya reseller Wil Tech Systems, has been seen all over the country in a skirt. Well, I suppose it’s not very PC to refer to a kilt — a traditional and noble garment — as a skirt.

Loy’s group, the Amityville American Legion Bagpipe Band, plays at wakes, weddings and every fancy ball around, from St. Patrick’s Day parades to fire department events. The band also has made a trio of appearances at Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

“That’s quite a test. The parade is seven miles long compared to the average two-mile parade in New York,” explained Loy. “The sidelines are packed from the beginning to the end, after which we play at the ball to welcome the king and queen of the Krewe of Tucks.”

Loy is also the business manager of the band, responsible for booking all of the band’s performances and parades. He first saw the Amityville American Legion Bagpipe Band play at a Montauk bar after the St. Patrick’s Day parade not long ago.

“It looked like I could do that,” said Loy, who has a background of playing keyboard and string instruments. “I always wanted to do so, before I started drooling in my soup,” laughed Loy, who first picked up the bagpipe at age 50. “I figured within a month or two, I’d be on the street in kilts. Wrong. After about a year-and-a-half of practice, I finally was proficient enough to walk down the street with the pipes screaming.”

Loy practices with the band every Wednesday night. “The group of guys that I play with are from assorted backgrounds and we all basically get together to have a good time,” explained Loy, pointing out that not everyone in the band is of Scottish or Irish descent — Loy himself is mostly Norwegian. “It is quite a commitment though, with practices and attendance at the parades taking up a lot of your weekends.”

And if anyone catches bagpipe fever, Loy advised being prepared for the practice road ahead. “If you have a good ear and you can read music, you have one leg up; if it’s the first instrument you’re taking up, be prepared to spend a lot of time practicing. The technique of keeping the bag full takes time,” he said. “Try it sometime. You might want to join the band.”

First job: Worked at Van Sise Farms on Long Island making apple cider and selling vegetables.

Greatest wish (and favorite joke): To put AT&T back together again.

Thoughts on telecom: “The industry is turmoil. The ability for service personnel to complete the most basic tests or to communicate with the facility providers is severely lacking. The facility providers have established their own new set of rules and guidelines that you just have to guess at, and the new servers, gateways and integrated functions are as about as easy to successfully install as scratching your ear with your elbow.”

Do you know someone who has Personality+? We’re looking for interesting characters in telecom to take the spotlight! Please send nominations to Cara Sievers at [email protected].