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Responses to January
18th
News Letter
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From: Joel Ketonen
Date: 1/19/2009 12:30:29 PM
Don't mean to be picky - picky but the old firehouse wasn't torn down, it
burned down along with McWhorter's original grocery store. You probably
have the year right, I just barely remember seeing the firehouse on fire.
Occurring at night, my mother would not let my sister and I stay up so we
went back to the farm. The fire was hot enough to blister the paint on the
east wall of my parents' then new-to-them store. The west wall of the
firehouse collapsed into the creek and remained there for a time. For
several years after I used to play in rubble of both buildings. Eventually
the two lots were bought by Cooper who then built and ran his pharmacy. In
the time between the burning of the old one and the present firehouse
being built, the fire engines were housed in the village truck barn on
Union Street just behind the Flying-A.
After the VFD up-graded with a second modern pumper, there wasn't room for
the 20s era LaFrance. It was kept for parades and serviceable as a reserve
vehicle. (Don't know if the CVFD still has it.) In the early 60's, what
had been Dick Hazlin's TV repair shop on West Main caught fire in the dead
of winter. For whatever reason, the two modern pumpers could not draw
enough water from the hydrants so someone decided to disconnect them and
draw water directly from the near-by creek. Apparently it was so cold the
short time it took to disconnect and then dump the hoses in the creek was
enough for the pumps to freeze so in desperation, the La France was
pressed into service. Its older, looser tolerance pump did not freeze thus
saving the rest of the stores on the north side of Main. We had already
moved to Oklahoma when Dick's TV shop burned but of course heard about it
from a number of people. Having been in the CVFD, Dad was able to get all
the details from several who had fought that fire.
Joel
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From: Thomas Hunt
Date: 1/19/2009 9:56:03 AM
Thanks Ken,
That was a pleasant read, thanks for doing the research. I never graduated
from CCS because we moved when I was 13, but I've always thought of
Cambridge as my hometown. We lived at 97 West Main from 1969-1977. I would
have graduated in '82...I did graduate, just not from Cambridge. You
probably went to school with some of my uncles and aunts. I just wanted to
let you know your efforts are appreciated. Thanks again.
Tom Hunt '82 |
From: Ed Cantwell
Date: 1/18/2009 7:45:46 PM
Ken
I'm dazed and amazed at how much effort it must have been to compile this
chronology!!! Let me offer my congrats on a superb job of producing this
wonderful list of historical events! THANKS!!!!!
Regards,
Ed C.
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