The Fire Station
My next recollection was that of moving to the fire station. My dad had taken a job as one of two full-time men that were hired to live at the fire station with their families. The apartment where we lived was on the top floor of the fire station and the big fire trucks were parked on the grown level just waiting and always ready to roll out of the station through two very large doors onto the Main street to put out fires. I had many very fond experiences living there at the fire station.
Spence Fire Station
The fire station was located at the south end of the main business district just a few steps from the Grand bridge, as it was called, that went over the Little Sioux river.
Grand Bridge
Directly to the south of the fire station was a Texaco gas station and directly to the north on the other side of “the ally” was a Michelin Tire store. On the other side of the Michelin Tire store was a Standard gas station then South 1st Street. Right behind the fire station was a junkyard for old automobiles and a storage garage. This junkyard is significant because I spent a lot of time playing there as I grew up in the fire station.
The top floor of the fire station was made up of two complete one-bedroom apartments, another room that was used for a bedroom and a large room called the “clubroom” where the firemen held their monthly meetings. There were also two additional storage rooms and bathroom. There was a complete kitchen in the area of the “clubroom” and a small room that was, what I called, the “scary” room. It was a room that was the top of the hose-drying tower. This is where the firemen would hang their fire hoses to dry after they were used. The hole went all the way to the basement level some 40 feet straight down. This room had one window where mom uses to shake out her dust mop.
The “clubroom was a place where I use to play all the time. It was very large and I could run my toy trucks all over the place and even play basketball and build things with my tinker toys.
My next recollection was that of moving to the fire station. My dad had taken a job as one of two full-time men that were hired to live at the fire station with their families. The apartment where we lived was on the top floor of the fire station and the big fire trucks were parked on the grown level just waiting and always ready to roll out of the station through two very large doors onto the Main street to put out fires. I had many very fond experiences living there at the fire station.
Spence Fire Station
The fire station was located at the south end of the main business district just a few steps from the Grand bridge, as it was called, that went over the Little Sioux river.
Grand Bridge
Directly to the south of the fire station was a Texaco gas station and directly to the north on the other side of “the ally” was a Michelin Tire store. On the other side of the Michelin Tire store was a Standard gas station then South 1st Street. Right behind the fire station was a junkyard for old automobiles and a storage garage. This junkyard is significant because I spent a lot of time playing there as I grew up in the fire station.
The top floor of the fire station was made up of two complete one-bedroom apartments, another room that was used for a bedroom and a large room called the “clubroom” where the firemen held their monthly meetings. There were also two additional storage rooms and bathroom. There was a complete kitchen in the area of the “clubroom” and a small room that was, what I called, the “scary” room. It was a room that was the top of the hose-drying tower. This is where the firemen would hang their fire hoses to dry after they were used. The hole went all the way to the basement level some 40 feet straight down. This room had one window where mom uses to shake out her dust mop.
The “clubroom was a place where I use to play all the time. It was very large and I could run my toy trucks all over the place and even play basketball and build things with my tinker toys.
This picture is a birthday party with
my grandparents and my aunt and
uncle in the club room of the fire station
One very memorable event was the winter fire meetings that the firemen had in the winter months or actually all the month that had an “r” in (like September, October through April. I discovered later in life that “oysters” were available in the Midwest in those months. The firemen would have “oyster stew feeds”, as they were called. I think this was the beginning of my love of cooking. The following is the basic recipe that was used by Cliff and George. I reduced the quantity to 4 bowls, however. We usually made enough for at least 30 to 40 firemen.
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