Image courtesy of SMVFA, click to enlarge.
Posted 11/27/12 –For more than eighty-five years, the volunteer firefighters of Sierra Madre have hosted a Christmas ball. Well, sort of, last year’s was on New Year’s Eve, but this year the ball is returning to its pre-Christmas roots. It will be held at St. Rita’s Catholic Church (NE corner of Grandview and Baldwin Ave.), in O’Malley Hall on Saturday, Dec. 8th, from 8pm to midnight. There will be a full bar, live music and dancing. A $5 donation is requested, and SMVFA again also requests that you contribute to another great Sierra Madre (actually, American) tradition at the ball. U.S. Marines will be on hand to accept donations to their Toys for Tots holiday drive, so if you can, please bring a new, unwrapped toy to help those in need. Click on the image at left for more information.
The music this year will again be provided by Stone Soul, who played at last year’s New Year’s Eve party. You can get a preview at their website, www.StoneSoul.com.
The Fireman’s Ball goes back to the early days of the SMFD, when firefighters would go door to door to sell tickets to the event. Now, you’ll find them in your mailbox. But if you watch the video below, and hear former mulepacker (and 2002 Sierra Madre Older American of the Year) Jim Heasley talking about it, you might come to the opinion that that’s probably a good thing. For those who may not be familiar, Jim was born around 1915ish?, and moved to Sierra Madre in 1920. He was one of our last remaining links to the early days of Sierra Madre before his death in July of 2002, and used to entertain folks with stories of the early days of the Fire Department up at Lizzie’s Trail Inn. The video below is when he was speaking at the reception honoring him as Sierra Madre’s Older American of 2002 just about two months before he passed away. And no, Jim was not the Heasley for whom Heasley Field is named. That was his dad…
Regarding the quality – technology in 2002 wasn’t quite up to what it is today. The video you are watching was recorded on a floppy disc!