Renaming a Fire Station

We live in an absolutely fantastic little mountain community, with absolutely fantastic people.

Who we never see unless we run into them for three seconds at the post office.

To help remedy that, the Fire Department decided to host a community pot luck. We provided the meat, and invited people to bring sides or desserts (or just themselves!) It's hard to get the word out in a place like this. We put flyers up at the post office, and at the only two stores in town, let the local hairdresser know, and created an event on Facebook.

According to Facebook, 16 people were coming.

But, as the time drew near, people started trickling in...

Cody (who had been there since noon) started flipping burgers...

Kids started defacing the carefully scrubbed cement...

More people started trickling in....neighbors started visiting...

And the food started piling up!

Oh my word, the food!

Never, ever, EVER pass up a chance to go to a mountain community pot luck. I did not eat a single thing that wasn't fantastic, and I tried my best to sample everything!

 And then Mike called everyone together for 'a few words'.

See the guy in the HRVFD shirt? Keep an eye on him.

Mike talked about what a great crew we have, and all the people who helped him out when he was first starting out at the FD.

 And then he called one of those people to the front - Emmett Savage.

Emmett gives Mike this look a lot. It keeps him in check. 

Mike told the crowd that Emmett has put 39 years into this fire department, serving this community in every position the department has (except female fire fighter, he was quick to point out).

So, what's your point, Mike?

Well, the point is, we want you to know how much you are appreciated, Emmett, so if you'll take a good look at this plaque...

...you'll see that you are now standing in the bay of the Emmett Savage Fire Station.

Oh, and by the way, your kids (one of whom lives way out of town) would like to congratulate you.

"What are you doing here?!"

 (He literally jumped back when he saw them! Please somebody tell me they got that on tape!)

I think the surprise was a success. And Mr. E can never say that we can't keep a secret.

Now...time to eat!

Junior firefighters first!

 And to visit! 

 Ooh, did I mention desserts?

This fabulous cake was made by Rene (the humidity was not helping things stay together, but I think it looked fabulous!)

Yes, that would be my daughter on her 16th trip to the table.

 More visiting! Tommy and Leon, there, were part of the department from early on, also.

Nobody has dropped a thing yet! What's up with that?!

 Shane wasn't feeling very good towards the end,

but he perked up for the desserts.

Mr. E is still trying to figure out how we pulled this off!

I have never seen Hunter without a smile on her face. I think Shane is slightly enamored!

Hunter's big brother, Oliver, may have something to say about that, though!

It took some time to convince Emmett that the pot luck came about because of the renaming, and not the other way around - I'm still not sure he believes us - but we do want to repeat the pot luck part! Chili cook-off in the fall, maybe? We'll be having a station work day on July 11, and an auxiliary meeting the next afternoon, so anybody interested in lending a hand is very much invited!

In the meantime, huge thanks to everyone who cleaned the station and trucks, went shopping, cooked,  set up, got the word out, and stayed to clean up. A special thank-you to the High Rolls Lions Club for the loan of the tables and chairs, and to The Spaghetti Western for donating a gift card to Sally, Emmett's wife, in appreciation for 39 years of missed meals and interrupted sleep!

Sometimes, I Like People.

Fire in the mountains is a big deal. I mean, nobody smiles when their house is consumed by flames, but when your house sits on the edge of a National Forest, fire is a REALLY big deal. Everybody has a mental what-can-I-pack-in-five-minutes list, along with, hopefully, two routes out to the highway. It's not a paralyzing fear, but something that's in the back of your mind - like earthquakes, if you live in southern California, or tornadoes if you live in Kansas, or Justin Bieber moving home if you live in Canada.

So, when the page went out yesterday afternoon for a structure fire...on a windy day...in our one and only trailer park...which is across the road from our one and only school...people took notice. Fortunately, the fire was contained to one trailer. Unfortunately, while the elderly occupant escaped unharmed, the trailer and all its contents were a complete loss.

That, of course, is not the thing that made me like people again. It's this: within an hour of the fire, the following posts started appearing on the community Facebook page:

"Is the old man that lives there ok?"

"Oh no! How can we help him?"

"Please, how can we help?"

" I called and left a message with the fire department."

"Let me see what I can find out."

That last post was me. I wasn't on the fire call - stuck at work - but Daddy was, and within a few minutes I was on the phone with the land owner, who drove from an hour away to 'see to' the home owner. I got basic info, and posted simply the following to a local for sale page:

"Older gentleman in High Rolls lost his home to a fire this afternoon. He got out with just the clothing on his back. If anyone can spare ANYTHING, I can take items at the public library (children's desk) and get them to him. His clothing sizes are: med/large shirt, size 34 waist, size 9 1/2 shoes. He will need household items as well - I can take smaller things now, not big items yet. Thank-you!"

I had barely hit send when I had a check for $30 sitting on my desk. Half an hour later, a woman showed up with a box of food and kitchen items, her little boy in tow.

"Me and my family can gather quite a bit of stuff together."

"Where can I send some food?"

"Ill bring some cloths by tomorrow gotta go dig them out and wash them"

"I will go thru Tony's things in the morning and come by the library."

"ive got some britches 34 36 if some one come s by to get them and probably more when i look"

and so on, and so on - 62 comments at the moment, and many many shares. You can count our local businesses on one hand, and they all jumped in without being asked - putting out donation jars, offering to be drop-off points. People have offered furniture and appliances once he has a place to move into - and labor to help get that place ready.

One of my favorites came at last night's 4H meeting. About half the kids attend the nearby school, with the other half home schooled. Many have parents in the fire department. As soon as the adult leader brought up the fire, they were all over it.

"What do you think we could do to help him out?"

One young man suggested donating money, but the club president pointed out that they didn't have any. A lemonade stand was suggested. A young lady suggested donating clothes (making for an interesting mental visual). Another young man suggested collecting scrap metal and building him a shelter. That idea was met with much enthusiasm, but the no-fun adults hastily pointed out that he had a place to stay. They finally hit on a canned food drive (much to said adults' relief).

You know, like any community, large or small, we bicker. We gossip, we complain about our neighbor's dog barking (sorry about that, btw, we're trying to train her not to). But, when something happens, and complete strangers, young and old, jump up to help - well, I have enough warm fuzzy feelings to get me through the rest of the winter!

So, today - hooray for people!

Update: There is now a gofundme account set up for Jim, at gofund.me/mc2x0c