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Letterheads really came through . . . Bruce Bowers donated sign for the Lockwood Fire Protection District arrived Friday morning, just in time for our Open House on Saturday. For some of you that don't know, while Bruce was making the sign, LFPD was burglarized at both Stations. Some low-life's took gas, keys to a fire engine, radios, etc., costing LFPD even more. The locked gas tank had just been filled (250 gals) when the perps broke the lock and let it leak all over the ground. HazMat clean-up will cost upwards of $30,000 and LFPD doesn't know how much the County and our insurance will cover yet. So . . . to the rescue, came Steve Shortreed and Mayo Pardo who split the cost of shipping the 5'x7' crate - something that LFPD could ill afford to do after the sign was finished. Another Letterhead, Mike Pulskamp, came up the hill and installed the sign on Friday evening. It just got done as the sun was setting. Luckily a scissor-lift had been left by the contractors, making the job alot easier. That's Mike on the lift, my husband Gary on the left, and the neighbor Skeeter who walked over to see what was going on. He keeps an eye on the Station. Lucky he showed up as one of the drills quit on us, and the other one kept running low on the charger.
Saturday there was alot of running around to do before the Open House began at 1pm. To our surprise, we were filled to the brim with people - over 100 - standing room only, with people eating hamburgers (donated & cooked up by a local gourmet restauranteur). We handed out over 30 Certificates of Appreciation, of which 5 went to Letterheads (you'll get them in the mail shortly), including one to Michael Britton of Surlinx who has made us an event sign to change as events warrant. It's en route. Pics to come when we get it mounted. Mike Pulskamp attended the ceremonies, met firefighters, saw a great demo of the Jaws of Life in action (an SUV quickly became a convertible!) THE topic of discussion for the entire day was the sign. Last night, I had no voice left after telling the story about Letterheads and the sign from Tonawanda, NY. The firefighters can't thank you guys enough. They love the sign. Mike Pulskamp has even offered to do one for Station #1. I think our little fire dept. impressed him. Especially when he saw our Fire Chief in his dress blues, and watching our guys in action. Left to right, Firefighter Eric Jones, Fire Chief Fred Wudell (out of his blues, darn), Captain Charlie Tinney, Firefighter Chris Schneider.
I am So Very Proud to be a Letterhead!!! Bomba-Dear
[ June 26, 2005, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: Jackie B ]
-------------------- Bomba-Dear Jackie Vaughn #5115 Volcano, California www.chocoholic.com Posts: 761 | From: Volcano, California, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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That is SOOOOOO cool Jackie...I damn near have tears in my eyes.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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Nice job Jackie, for having the courage to ask & for all your other work coordinating the accomplishment of this display of the good of mankind & (letterville)
Nice sign Bruce!! & ditto on the kudos to Steve, Mike & Mayo (haven't heard from Mayo lately... but he is one of the first Letterheads I ever met (how ya doin' Mayo?)
[ June 26, 2005, 10:21 PM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
It was a real pleasure to help out. Dana helped me put it together.
Thanks to Mayo and Steve for helping out.
Thanks, Jackie, for letting me help. I believe fire fighters are unsung heroes who do a job most of us wouldn't do... Something about the natural urge to run AWAY from a fire.
and Jackie... That is NORTH Tonawanda. We don't associate much our neighbors to the south there. It's a historical attitude thing.
BTW... you are very welcome!
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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It looks great, Jackie. Brooce can sure make purty signs. It's nice that so many other Heads helped you too. Thanks to everyone involved including you!And just where is Mayo? I miss him. It's a shame about the break-in. I hope all the problems associated with it get cleared up, and that the jerks who did it get caught and punished. Love....Jill I can't let this go by without remarking that the firefighter 2nd from the right looks exactly like Bill Berberich!
Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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The sign looks GREAT! As a member of my own communities Fire department I know that these acts of generosity goes a long way with the membership and are never forgotten. If the department needs any kind of help let me know. I sit as the president of the members club of my home towns dept and would like to offer any assistance we can give.
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It's just pretty darned amazing that so many generous people are out there. For the Lockwood story on the thefts, you can read two articles in our local paper: http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=160346 and http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=159899 So far, we've received $4,000 in donations to the theft relief fund from locals. Not to mention all the people that helped with supplies and construction of Station #2, a long time dream of ours. Most people don't realize that over 70% of all fire departments in the U.S. are all volunteer. We have seven different fire departments in Amador County, and all are volunteer. We've been lucky with our resident support and were able to pass a small tax assessment increase a few years back. Residents pay a meager $70 a year for fire protection, (just try getting Californians to pay more!!) while the rest of the fire departments in our county only get $35 year from residents. With that money, we bought (with a ten year contract on both items) a new fire engine and built a new station. And to think what the volunteers give in return - 24/7 response within 6 minutes or less; over 600 hours initial training; weekly training sessions not to mention yearly certifications (some are week long classes); being available for fund raisers; general maintenance of everything. On top of that, our mutual aid contracts with CDF (Calif. Dept. of Forestry) most often calls our guys out to assist on the big fires. Our guys were in San Diego area last year fighting the huge fires down there. They go and fight a fire for 72 hours straight, take a breather, and then get back at it. All our volunteers also have full time jobs and families. So when people come out of the woodwork and give, it means the world to them. Volunteers are a strange bunch - they don't want to be honored, recognized or praised. They just do it. Try asking them why, and no one can come up with an answer. At our Open House last Saturday, one of the County Board of Supervisors gave a short speech. It brought tears to my eyes as he touted LFPD as being THE BEST in the county, and praising residents for the support they give to us. Ok, ok, so I'm rambling, but the fire dept. is my baby. My brother was the Chief for 20 years. Guess it's in my blood. I'll do anything to aid the volunteers. Even talk alot . . . . I'll post the news article on the sign whne it get's published. Again (and yer probably tired of hearing this) Thank You Bomba-Dear
-------------------- Bomba-Dear Jackie Vaughn #5115 Volcano, California www.chocoholic.com Posts: 761 | From: Volcano, California, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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