By Derek Gentile
The Berkshire Eagle
LENOX, Mass. — Ninety-nine years ago, a year after a massive fire devastated the town center, the voters of Lenox approved the purchase of a 1910 American LaFrance fire truck to help the town’s newly minted fire department battle fires.
They still have the truck.
Not as a working piece of equipment, but as one of several historic fire vehicles the town bought over the years.
The 1910 vehicle, a 1911 truck by the same manufacturer and a used 1873 pumper were the centerpieces of Sunday’s Lenox Fire Department Centennial Parade. The 1911 truck and the used 1873 pumper from Detroit were both purchased by Lenox voters in 1911.
Yesterday’s parade took advantage of the crowd that attended the annual Lenox Apple Squeeze, a community celebration of food, arts, crafts and children s activities sponsored by the Lenox Chamber of Commerce.
The weather didn’t hold up terribly well. By the time of the parades 1 p.m. start, it had been raining on and off for hours. Still, a respectable crowd of several hundred were at the Apple Squeeze, and many stayed to watch the parade saunter down Main Street.
The marchers eventually ended up at the Shakespeare & Company campus, where the town hosted a reception for the firefighters and their guests. The rain was no friend to the ancient firefighting vehicles, according to Tim Kane, a retired Lenox fireman who heads up a team of residents who take care of the three vehicles.
“The rain makes little specks on the brass [of the engines],” said Kane. “It takes a couple hours to clean it off.”
Deputy Fire Chief Christopher O’Brien planned the event, spending about 14 months to do so, he said.
“It took a lot of hard work,” said O’Brien.
More than 50 pieces of firefighting equipment were featured in yesterday’s parade. The Berkshire Highlanders bagpipe orchestra provided musical entertainment.
From no fire stations in 1909, the town now has three, said O’Brien. They are the Central Fire Station on Main Street, the North Lenox Fire Station on Route 7 and the Lenox Dale Station.
“We could not have done this without the support of the taxpayers of this town, and the business community,” said O’Brien. “They should get the credit.”
Lenox now has 54 volunteer firefighters, said O’Brien.
“I think the good thing about that is that a lot of them are younger members of the community,” he said. “It bodes well for the future.”
Leading yesterday’s parade were 10-year-old Molly O’Brien, Chris O’Brien s daughter, and her friend Maureen Gaherty, also 10, whose father, John Gaherty, is also a firefighter. They carried the banner announcing the parade.
They did not have to practice and the banner was not heavy, said O’Brien.
“My dad just asked me if I could carry the banner,” she shrugged casually, slugging down a can of Mountain Dew.
“My dad told me if I carried the banner, I could sleep inside tonight,” said Gaherty.
Gaherty was asked if she is often forced to sleep out of doors.
“No, never,” she said cheerfully. “My dad tells me that all the time. I don’t know why.”
Retired firefighter Tim Kane preps a 1910 American LaFrance fire truck for Sunday’s Lenox Fire Depart ment parade. The truck was the first motor-driven piece of equipment that the Lenox Fire Department ever used.
Copyright 2009 MediaNews Group, Inc. and New England Newspaper Group Inc.
All Rights Reserved