The Merge of the Two Fire Departments

I never really thought that the fire departments would ever become one, but it finally did happen. It didn’t happen overnight, but it went to a vote, and it went through. My husband was the chief of the Heights Fire Department, and I was the president of the Ladies Auxiliary. There were three chiefs in each department, so with the merge, we had six chiefs. My husband became the first voted-in chief of the new department, and I remained the president of the ladies for many years.

I offered to design the banner for the merge, and I got permission to do so. This is the banner I designed, and they put it to a vote at a meeting; it was approved 100 percent. So I got together with the company that the men used for the jackets and badges and showed them my design. They said that they could do it without a problem. A few months went by, and they delivered the banner to the firehouse.

The Indian was the center emblem, and the steamer was the Heights emblem on their patches, jackets, and also the trucks. It wasn’t really all that hard putting it together. My family, even today, is very active in the fire department. My husband recently finished being a commissioner for many years, and my son is on the Class A pumper.

(Patch design: Shelter Island Fire Department.)

I was still president when we first used the banner.