160th Anniversary Firefighters’ Ball

Hello to all of our friends of the San Jose Fire Museum (SJFM). Well the start of the 160th Anniversary Year of the San Jose Fire Department (SJFD) was a huge success. It started with a great Firefighters Ball on January 26th, 2014. With over 300 guest attending;  there was fun socializing; a formal program with honor guard, bagpipes, and choir;  speeches & presentations; a great dinner and fantastic dancing to a wonderful band.

The SJFM is very proud of the outcome. They raised over $13,000 in profits from the SJFD 160th Firefighters Ball that will all be deposited in the Old Fire Station One Capital Improvement Plan Account.

It was 96 years ago that the SJFD  held its first Firefighters Ball in modern day history. It was the beginning of a long run of dances that always had a purpose for raising funds to benefit a very important program. Ten years ago, the SJFM hosted the 150th SJFD Firefighters Ball as a fundraiser for the SJFM and we were very successful with over 1,000 guest in attendance.

At the 160th Ball, the SJFM presented a number of historical displays including  fire helmets, badges and historical journals. We also unveiled our newest apparatus to the collection. A 1800’s four wheeled Studebaker Wagon, we will call it Relief Hose. It looks very similar to the Relief Hose Co. No.5 that went into service in June, 1885. This was a volunteer company that was located at South 8th Street and East San Salvador Street. We were also very fortunate to receive on loan, the Chief Engineer Fire Helmet of our chief from 1889 to 1892, Rudolph Hoelbe. It was loaned to us for the 160th Ball by Lou Rosendin and it was on display in our Fire Helmet Display Case. There is also a picture of it in the 160th Firefighters Ball Souvenir Program.

During the formal program, the SJFM was very proud to announce and recognize three great friends of the SJFM as our Volunteer of the Year for 2013. They were Nick Grossi, Peggy Donatelli and Karen Allyn. We also announced our selection of Sponsor of the Year for 2013, Campbells Towing, with a special thank you to their owner Joe Scarff.

Everyone involved with this great moment in the history of the SJFD can be very proud, our sponsors, volunteers, the Jesse Charles Band, the Elks Lodge, our speakers for the evening and the SJFM Board of Directors.