Small Town USA!

This weekend

in our small town USA, Fire Department Association Hall, better known as The Brick Hall in Lower Lake, California, something very special happened. But I need to back up to let you know what was happening with my family first.

My father brought me to Lake County when I was only 3 years old. I have lived here, (minus a short stint in Livermore) ever since. I watched most of my family move away over the years and the saddest was when my brother Mason, and his wonderful family moved to Arizona. We all have visited quite a lot and my mother Ruth, lives with Mason. Dad and his wife of more than 25 years, Carol, fell in love with Arizona during our many visits and they bought a house there. So the big move after my father has been in Lake County nearly 46 years, was THIS WEEKEND!

Meanwhile, the Lake County Fire Protection District’s Annual Firemen’s Dinner was also this weekend. Being with my husband for nearly 31 years, and he having been a fireman more than 36 years, I’ve attended just a few of these dinners. HA!

That being said, I had a dilemma. Because of my father’s move my nephew Shane was driving down from Montana to help with hauling all their belongings, and my brother Mason was going to be here as well to help pack my father and Carol’s entire life into trailers to move. This also meant Dad and Carol would have no BED TO SLEEP IN because,……. well, it was packed! They were all going to be staying with me. All the friends that helped pack them up also were going to be here at my place to wish them all well and Bon Voyage! I thought it would be ok if I missed this ONE Firemen’s Dinner. Charlie completely understood.

But once word got out to some of his crew that he was going without me, a wife of one of the guys and a good friend called up to say, “You GOTTA COME! Charlie is getting Fireman of the Year!” (Thanks Wendy!) Well you can imagine that I was in quite a pickle! If I had that Mulitplicity Machine to carbon copy myself then I could be in two places at once. I told her I’d work it out and thanked her for giving me the heads up!

As it turned out, things went perfectly. Friday night was when I had everyone at my house until late. Saturday night my folks needed to get to bed early because the 16 hour drive of Easter Sunday to Arizona was ahead of them. My nephew went to bed directly after dinner and the only ones left hanging around were my brother and me. I asked if he wanted to crash the awards dinner with me and he said sure, since he was flying home. He’d been in California several days for business and his flight didn’t leave until 12:45pm the next day. We were golden!

  My brother and I are pretty tight!

We are ridiculous when we get together and it’s a blast. So when we got to the Brick Hall early, we didn’t want to walk in. If Charlie saw me he’d wonder why I was there instead of at home with the fam and then he’d know he must be receiving something, and I didn’t want to give it away. So Mason and I stood outside the doors, up against the wall like Spiderman, laughing and telling each other to SUSH! Zack from Charlie’s shift, and his lovely wife, came outside just then and brought us beer while we waited.

Finally we got a text from our youngest daughter Emma, (who was sick and waiting to go home as soon as the awards were handed out), that we could come in. We snuck inside and stood in the back of the room, trying to be quiet. Just as we thought we’d made it in all stealth like, Mason’s foot kicked the metal door and made a loud echo throughout the building! We froze and hoped nobody would turn. Luckily, few did.

  I wish

I’d taken my camera, but I was in such a hurry to go I forgot. Anyway, as we stood in the back of the packed dining tables of people, Chief Willie Sapeta was talking about the fires of the last season and specifically the Clayton Fire. He handed out several recognitions to firemen that went above and beyond during that fire. The list was long and people were beginning to get emotional.

Our demeanor changed, my brother and I, from goof-balls to humble people. It was special to be a part of the grateful community honoring these firemen. Then Charlie came up to the microphone and pretty much brought down the house.

I could never remember everything he said, but one thing he brought up was how before the district consolidation between Lower Lake and Clearlake departments, there was always a razing and playful competition between them. But he said, “On that day of the Clayton Fire, we were all Lower Lake Firemen!” He was clearly choked up. Then he said how he was so honored to do battle with each of them during the Clayton Fire. He spoke of certain guys that laid it all on the line, and before he was done, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Looking over at my brother Mason, we were both crying and he said, “I’m ex-military Dude! I don’t cry! Why am I crying?” and we laughed at each other. I later talked with him after hours of dancing, partying, and basically having a town reunion. We stood in the kitchen at my house at around 12:30am talking about the difference of Lake County and Arizona city living.

“There is nothing like what I saw tonight going on in Arizona,” Mason said. “That small town USA stuff is really special here. Everyone having each other’s back, it’s pretty damn cool! I didn’t realize how much I miss that.”

It was then that I realized, I have been taking our community for granted again. I loved everything I heard, saw, and experienced, but didn’t think about how unique it is to have these type of connections. The camaraderie of our community is very special. Like I told my brother that night, we might not all socialize with each other much, but if anything ever happened and any of us needed something, we have an endless amount of folks that would come a running! That’s a pretty great thing and something I hold dear in my heart.

And the book is still progressing, slow but sure! It’s because of folks like we spent time with this last Saturday night at the Brick Hall, that make my book easier to write. It’s their story and the people who lift me up with hope! For that I am grateful. See y’all soon!