Thanks Jimmy! I always appreciate your kind words!

 

Keith,
Wow! Congrats again to be invited to attend such a prestigious event. That is truly first class. Excellent rewards for all of the hard work you put into the truck.


I'm glad you had fun and got to meet Wayne Carini. I've watched his show, he seems to be a pretty knowledgeable and nice guy


Bobby

 

Thank Bobby! Wayne is a real nice man and I've always wanted to meet him.

 

Finally made the Delray beach St Patricks Day parade last Saturday! I'm sure I mentioned it in previous posts. My family flew in from Chicago and Virginia. It was a great event and I've never seen so many spectators at a parade before. I had the truck towed up to the event. There was almost a major problem with that. I ordered the tow about 6 weeks out. I was quoted $185 each way which was a good price. I confirmed the appointment 2 weeks out and was told a ticket had been pulled and we were on for the day of the event for a 9am pick up. 5 days out I called to see if I could change the pick up time to 830. The parade starts at 12 but the line up begins at 1030 so I didn't want to cut it too close. The person who made the appointment was off so they were going to leave him a message. I called the next day to see if the message was received and they said he was off for a few more days. The woman who answered the call said she would check on it. I waited while she check and guess what?? A ticket was never pulled and they knew nothing about it. Now this is 4 days before the event. She said they had other towing obligations and may not be able to do it. I was fuming at this point and complained that this appointment was made in January! She said she would give me a call back in a few. When she called back she said she had good news & bad news. Good news was they could do the tow .... the bad news was the pickup time was between 6-630. It was ok with me as I would rather be early then late. The truck showed up at 615. I was a little worried that it was too small but I was told the capacity was 15K and my truck is 10K. When it was loaded there was only about 1 foot space to the back of the flat bed. The truck hung over around 6 feet. We got to the event around 730 and I waited in a shopping center parking lot for my family who arrived at 930. We loaded up the tuck with our food, drinks and chairs and drove to the staging area which was on a main road with shops on both sides. We decorated the truck with our St Patricks Day items and waited for the parade to start. I ran into a bunch of guys from my department who had never seen the truck before. They were impressed with how well it turned out. The parade route was 2 mile long and it was packed with spectators. They estimate it to have 100-150 thousand people in attendance. We were told not to use the siren but we did use it lightly and rang the bell constantly. After the parade was over I drove back to the same lot that I was dropped off at. They showed back up in 10 minutes time and we made it back without any problems. We had entered in another parade the next day but the weather wasn't looking good. We had a great time and plan to do it again next year. Enjoy the pics. I will try and upload some videos to Youtube and post them later.

 

My older brother Bob down from Virginia is on the left.

With my wife and sister.

With some of my co-workers.

My sister and our fake Dalmatian which everyone kept asking if it was real!

 

I uploaded some video's:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmJ0...ature=youtu.be

 

One more to show the size of the crowds!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdG3...ature=youtu.be

 

Awesome stuff!!!


Looks like a great time was had by all. Thanks for sharing


Bobby

 

Thanks Bobby!

 

Hi Guys! Its been a while since I posted anything. I hope everyone is doing well and all projects are coming along. We are still enjoying the truck and use it whenever we can. In June, I picked up my youngest son from his last day in 4th grade. I'll a little worried about the huge hurricane headed my way. Its a category 5 right now and I hope the storage facility where the truck is stored will withstand the strong winds. It is a CBS block building but I'm not sure how strong the roof is. I have a cover on it but may get a big blue tarp to put over it for extra protection. I was in Chicago over the summer and found a picture of the truck when the Patrol disbanded and it went to the Lombard Fire Dept. I found it amusing that a Buick was parked next to it as I have the same parked in my garage now. I also found the original ad that posted the truck for sale. The last big news is that I am hanging up my fire boots and retiring after almost 34 years. Now I will have plenty of time to spend with the family!

 

Keith , your truck is the coolest damn fire truck on the planet !!!

 

Thanks Denny! Those hurricane models show it going right up the state so we both are going to be affected. I've already put my shutters up and will be doing my moms tomorrow. I hope this thing slows down! I have a 2 story house and the upper floor is wood frame so I wont be staying here. Its packing 185 mph winds right now!!

 

Good to see you and your family and truck
are still safe Keith. I had a stroke the other
day so I am just wanting to let you all know
that I will be praying for you and all my FTE
friends even more now. Take care of the little
ones.

 

Thanks Rich! I'll be praying for a quick recovery for you!!

 

Rich - that is surprising news about your health problem. Get better soon and back to enjoying life, family and the trucks. Let us know how you are doing.
Keith I hope all goes well for your house, mom's house and the truck. Most of all be safe and get out of this monsters way asap. Let us know how things go. Our prayers are with you all