Hamden's Maxim a Hit at the 1961 Convention Parade
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| The New Haven Register, Thursday, August 31, 1961 (Courtesy of Chan Brainard) |
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Hamden's 1959 Maxim "cab-forward" 750 GPM pumper, one of the first Maxims of that configuration, took the honors as the "best looking and best functioning machine" at the 1961 Connecticut State Firemen's Convention Parade in August 1961 at Bethel. The black and white photos below are from the HFRA archives.
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| Looks like a parade judge is giving Hamden's entry the white glove treatment in the parade at Bethel. CLICK to enlarge. |
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West Woods Volunteer Fire Company No. 9 was honored to represent Hamden in the parade. Chief V. Paul Leddy permitted Firefighter Art Smith, a career member and also captain of Humphrey Co. 2, to drive the nearly-new piece in the parade. The West Woods volunteers placed their company sign on the port side of the pumper where the hard suction is mounted.
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| This photo is from Chan Brainard's collection - CLICK to enlarge. |
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| CLICK to enlarge |
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| CLICK to enlarge |
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In the photo at left, the tail end of the '59 Caddy with the wrap-around rear window is far more visible than Co. 9's rectangular red ID sign mounted at the hard suction on the port side of the Maxim.
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Organized in 1956 with the help of B/C Everett Doherty (1902-72), the West Woods Volunteers Fire Company No. 9 disbanded in 1988. The red sign that was displayed on the side of the Maxim pumper in the 1961 parade re-surfaced in late 2014, when it was presented to Chief Doherty's son, retired B/C Tom Doherty, by a member of the Bethany Volunteer Fire Department. Tom brought it to the January 2015 meeting of the Association.
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Initially, no one knew the history behind the sign. It was first thought that it had been mounted on the front of the company's "new" quarters, the former one-room schoolhouse at Still Hill and Johnson Roads. However, Chan Brainard's color photo of the Maxim in the Bethel parade finally solved the mystery behind the red sign, which is now in the HFRA archives.
Posted 4/20/20
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