Page 35 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams
P. 35
Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams
Column July 25, 2010
JOANNA. “CHILD OF THE FIRE CHIEF”
Joanna Adicks Wallace (CHS 1952) was both the daughter and the
granddaughter of Lake City’s first two fire chiefs. Here are some of
her memories excerpted from her memoir, “Child of the Fire Chief.”
“It was an exciting life to be the young daughter of the Fire Chief in
Lake City. Besides learning how to ride a bike in the long, wide,
curved driveway at the fire station, my brother Richard and I enjoyed
roller-skating there with our friends.
“Sometimes we would go inside the firehouse and watch Daddy play
Solitaire while he waited for the next alarm. When that alarm
sounded, he suddenly charged into action with all his strength.
“Sometimes when Richard and I and our little neighborhood friends
were playing in the front yard at home, we would hear the sound of a
huge truck coming up on that quiet street and we knew it was Daddy
driving up in the big red fire truck— and we knew it was the day to gas
up the big engine.
“He would stop at the curb and shout out, “Climb up!" and all us kids
would scramble up and sit inside the curled-up fire hose on the back
of the truck. Sometimes one of us would be lucky and get to sit on
the front seat with Daddy.
“The kid in the front seat was allowed to ring the fire truck’s big loud
bell as we rode to the gas station.
It must have been pretty frightening to the residents of our sleepy little
town to hear the fire bell’s loud clanging as we rode down Lake City’s
quiet streets.
“While the truck was being gassed up, we would be given a chance to
turn the handle on the motor that made the siren go. We would see
who could turn the handle fastest to make the siren sound really loud.
“If Daddy was home eating lunch when the siren at the station
sounded, our whole family would jump up from the table, run for the
29
www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: 644B81FB-81A1-47B2-8D77-49DC2A1A0BE8
