Three fellows had passed on and were waiting to enter into the gloryland. While they were waiting, they were told that in order to enter, one of the prerequisites was that they could count to 10. No problem said the first fellow..1234…1234…1..2 .3 4…. I forget what comes after 4. I was a soldier in my earthly life and I was used to marching 1 2 3 4….1 2 3 4……
The second fellow couldn’t wait….1 2 3 4 5 6….let me see???? 1 2 3 4 5 6….I was a police officer in my past life and they gave me these 6 bullets which I counted every day for 30 yrs but I can’t remember what comes after 6!
The third fellow says “let me try” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10…yep that’s it! Once more… 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10… I was a fireman you know, a very noble profession, and I served for 30 yrs as well! “So…. By any chance, do you happen to know what comes after ten” they asked? “Sure” he answered Jack, Queen, King, Ace !!!
Brent Marchant sent me a couple of anecdotes about time on the job. I haven't edited any of Brent's stories; these are his words... still funny after all these years
It was a Saturday morning about 7:45 am just before shift change at HQ… so there’s lots of guys hanging around looking for a cover. The WPD are also present because Half Reaumes’ van had been broken into overnight and his vending machine business money had been stolen, and they were doing a report and investigation. The Moon Beams truck is parked right beside Half’s van.
So Sonny (MB) gets in his truck , starts it up and moves it our about 15 ft and shuts it off. He then proceeds to the front of it and lifts the hood staring inside …….. So “wisecrackin Caverzan shouts out, Hey Sonny, what’s the matter … did they steal your engine? To which there is a hearty burst of laughter from everyone. Sonny replied with a very straight faced and stern look… No stupid, I wanted to be sure they didn’t take my battery! The place went bezerk!
Here’s another true one for you. I’m driving the eng out of #4, Randy Meyer is Captain, George Copland and Steve Appleyard are on the back. The call comes in ,,,…medical emergency to a lower apartment on Sandwich. ….seems The daughter was talking with her mother …suddenly disconnected…….no response…….daughter suspects her mother has suffered a heart attack!!
Lights and sirens, pedal to the metal! we roll. Arriving on scene the daughter is already there, and totally hysterical. Randy orders take the door down!......there’s no answer from within. Smash! Crash! The old wooden door is in smithereens They all rushed inside and find the mother sitting upright on the sofa with her hands across her chest and starring straight ahead. . MOM ….ARE YOU ALRIGHT??.... reply ….I’m mad at you,! I’m not talking to you! BUT MOM, THE FIR EMEN JUST SMASHED YOUR DOOR DOWN! …….reply….. It’s my door…. I don’t have to answer it if I don’t want to!! Cpt Meyer says …..oooookay! well we’ll be on our way now ,,come on boys…. Windsor dispatch ..... eng 4 returning
After all these years we have someone who knows how to adjust the side mirrors on your car. I tried this and wished I had known about this hint years ago. No need to thank me but a few donations would be nice. : ) This might even work for the big red rigs!
Just got this from Mario in Fort Myers. The women look great but what the heck happened to the guys? Time is a terrible thing, isn't it? : ) Just kidding... they look pretty good too. Well, kinda.
Way back in the early 80’s I was watching Ace Buchanan pitch golf balls in the back yard at #7 station. Anyone who spent any considerable time at “The Home” could tell you that most of us had way too much time on our hands at one of the slowest stations in the city. I recall many of the guys doing strange things to waste away the days before and after the training sessions (which were VERY intense, by the way). I once heard a story from one of the guys about Greg Seney, who is now the Deputy of Vaughn, and how he spent some of his leisure time. It seems that Greg had a fly cemetery on the window sill next to the chair that he used to sit in. I suppose you need some sort of training if you’re going to end up as a Deputy Chief somewhere. This may have been part of the plan. Sort of like a prerequisite of some kind. Fly cemetery planning 101.
In any event I digress. When I saw Ace pitching the golf balls I noticed that his trunk lid was open and the keys were still in the trunk lid. If you can forecast what happened next I can start to see the smile coming across your face : ). Everyone was well aware just how gullible Ace could be at times. One story comes to mind is the tale of Ace driving a ladder truck and following the leaking engine’s booster tank water trail to a fire. Too bad it turned out to be a street cleaner doing its job.
I always carried my car keys with me and came up with a brilliant idea! Why not switch the keys in his trunk for mine!!! Simple enough, right? I secretly switched my keys for his and inserted one of the keys into the trunk lid while I put his in my pocket. I then asked if the keys in the trunk were his. With a look of disdain Ace just stared at me and decided that was a pretty stupid question; after all, it was HIS car. The plan so far was working just fine. I looked at him and said, “Well, I just wondered why you would leave your keys in the lock if you suddenly had a run and might forget them.” To which Ace intelligently replied, “That’s pretty dumb, Lodge... I’ll just grab the keys when I go back in the building and get on the engine.” “I suppose”, I answered. The trap was now set.
Looking at Ace I promptly said, “Well, what would happen if someone came and did THIS???” In one quick action I threw my keys into the trunk of his car and quickly slammed the trunk lid down!!! It seemed that there was a defining moment when time stopped as I saw the look on Ace’s face. It was NOT a good look. What I heard next was not Ace’s voice; but, rather something that I had never heard before. I was a bit surprised that his head didn’t do a spin on his shoulders like that girl in the movie The Exorcist.
At that moment I thought better of my plan and decided to end the fun right there. When I started to laugh Ace realized what had happened. His next statement was priceless, “Phew, I didn’t think you were that stupid!” To which I replied, “Well, it wasn’t ME who left the keys available, was it?”
I left quickly when his voice started to change again.
I thought you might like to watch the video of Old Timer Hockey in Florida...if you look real close you can see Gary Spratt at the age of about 102 : )
I asked Carl Wilson recently about an episode that occurred while he was on vacation in Mexico. " I know nothing!" he replied. When questioned further he answered, "Well, I guess they heard of my near perfect record for driving emergency vehicles while I was at the department and also my skills at training the guys how to drive the Sutphens when they were introduced. Actually I think the guy behind the wheel in this incident was Stump Boisvert; he's always getting involved in mishaps like this. Besides, he travels a lot more than I do" When last seen Carl was looking for cheaper international car insurance.
Way back in the summer of ’81 I was working out of the “old” #2. The strange thing is that this event didn’t come in as a standard alarm; but, as a phone call. I was summoned in one command from the loudspeaker; “Squad … You’re going out!” When I hit the back of Squad 2 Greg Reitzel was already dressed and had that devious smile that we had all come to know. “What’s up?” I asked. He replied, “You don’t want to know; we’re going to rescue a Grizzly bear in a tree”. I knew at that very moment that my career had taken on a whole new perspective.
When we arrived on scene at Mathew Brady Boulevard in Riverside we were faced with a very large crowd of onlookers. The boys in blue told us that the action was taking place in the back yard. I can’t remember everyone on scene but definitely Bud Carpenter was the DC along with Pat Cushing, Bernie Decaire, I and Ratz.
This will be a synopsis of the event and what transpired that historic evening. First of all the humane society showed up with a very large rifle and enough narcotic filled darts to stun and down an elephant if necessary. All I can say at this point is that we were very lucky that Mongo wasn’t there and mistaken identity could very well have been a problem! After firing a cascade of darts into the animal’s posterior the beast hung onto the limb of the tree in a drunken stupor. I counted at one time that he had at least five darts dangling from his most southern region and he hadn’t succumbed yet. He resembled a neighborhood drunk hanging onto a lamppost for dear life!
At one point the boys in blue had a meeting amongst them and informed us that if the bear dropped from the tree that we would be more than safe as they would "take care of the problem" with their weapons arsenal. The testosterone was thick. I was sure that every one of them, which numbered approximately 20, had their own shotguns! There were probably more weapons visible that night than on the morning of the D-Day invasion. I must remind you that at this time the back yards were starting to fill up fairly quickly and the neighbors had most of their family members peering over the fences and bushes to take in the fun. I even saw a few 3 or 4 year olds sitting on their fathers’ shoulders. I’ve often thought if some entrepreneur was in the background selling tickets for the occasion. I pondered at the time, “Hummmmm…. If the bear drops and the boys in blue are staffed with their own shotguns the families sure hadn’t been discussed in the meeting they had!”
It was ultimately decided upon that we should grab the rescue net from the squad and prepare for the inevitable drop. As the police barricaded the driveway we positioned ourselves at the ready…. Pat Cushing, who was next to me, noticed something very important; he said to me, “Hey, Lodge, take a look at where we’re located!” When I checked it out we had our backs up against a chain link fence, with the tree next to Pat. Pat wisely stated, “IF the bear drops and is still conscious the first faces he’s going to see is yours and mine and with one swipe we’re looking at plastic surgery. I’m not sure if I like those odds; do you?” Although I wasn’t as good looking as Dennis Axford I quickly agreed and mentioned it to the DC. Needless to say, Bud just shook his head forlornly and told us to get into a new position. It didn’t take us long to find one. When we were ready someone mentioned to the police that they shouldn’t be guarding the driveway so diligently. I think it was the DC who mentioned to them, “Excuse me, Boys but if the bear escapes and we have to make a mad dash for it I believe you might just get run over.” To which the reply was, “Oh ya…. You’re right”.
We stood there for what seemed like ages…and then decided to take a break in the back yard. As luck would have it the grizzly decided to drop during our break. He landed squarely on the net with no one manning it. The only problem is that he was only taking a nap and mistakenly let go of the branch of the tree. The drugs had not taken full effect as of yet. He landed on his back and jumped to his feet, shook his head and did a size up of the area. It was at this crucial time that the boys in blue bolted down the driveway in the direction opposite the bear. In a flashback I remember seeing Bernie Decaire with a pike pole rigged with a snare trying to trap the bear. As Bernie deftly tightened the snare around its neck, the bear literally danced Bernie around the backyard like a ballet dancer on a caffeine high.
I’ve never seen so many people scramble so quickly. Fathers with kids on their shoulders realized that this wasn’t a trip to Barnum and Bailey and made haste to find safe shelter. The bear continued to have his way with Decaire. At one point I could swear, when the bear and I locked eyes, that he thought this was great fun and was grinning as he swung Bernie 4 feet off the ground past the backyard gym set. When he tired of Decaire he made a dash for the driveway, and continuing his size-up, didn’t see any police officers. “So far, so good”, he must have thought.
At one point in the front of the house he jumped about 10 feet up and onto a tree next to the sidewalk and, lacking good judgment because of the drug influence, promptly fell to the ground. I was amazed as when he landed he instantaneously rebounded without a beat and landed on a sturdy branch about twenty feet up and decided to hold up there for awhile.A few of us grabbed the net and positioned ourselves under the tree by the sidewalk and waited. During this time one of the darts fell out and landed on the net. We all must have thought the same thing at the same time, “What if that dart had landed and stuck in me?????” How does one fill out an accident report and explain why you’ve been off work for 3 days laid up in a ghastly narcotic state and not being able to carry on a simple conversation with your dog?
It was at this time that the bear decided to give up the ghost…his head fell back…he swayed to and for… his tongue relaxed and rested beside his cheek…. And then he let go! Most of us held our breath as we felt the weight hit the net. We didn’t breathe for about 30 seconds and it was then that we realized that the Grizzly wasn’t moving. It was very strange to peer into each others eyes, darting back and forth, as we slowly dropped the net just below eye level. The bear was out cold and snoring!
What happened next was rather uncanny. What began as small chatter among the crowd slowly became a cheer and then a roaring applause as we all realized what had happened. We had defeated the beast! The “hunters and gatherers” had succeeded!
In the aftermath it was strange that not one spent shotgun shell was found in the vicinity of the battle. Oh, before I forget… the Grizzly turned out to be a bear cub…but it sure looked huge during the event.
Look up to the top left corner! See the words, "Why I didn't attend, etc"? Good...now VOTE! We're NOT done!... see below this message where it says "comments" in red text? Great...now click on the word and make one and let us know why you didn't attend the banquet if the poll didn't let you explain more fully.
Although Jack passed away February 5th, 2017 his wife Jeannie has been managing the Windsor Firefighters information list, the Memorial Page and is working towards reestablishing the Blog as a remembrance for Jack
From Brent Marchant
