Thank's To Pete and Niki Genolio we've got some great pictures for our blogsite. For those of you who are old enough to read between the lines, It was Garberville Firefighter Shawn Studebaker. The person usually chosen to do the job is the first one to join the fire department that hasn't done it yet. Which would have been Shawn's wife, Aurora, who is a Redway firefighter. Somehow she talked Shawn into taking her place. As it turned out it was good that she was able to get a replacement, because she was off helping a girlfriend deliver a baby. One of the things that I like about fire departments, is they get to be around a lot of "real life" situations. It doesn't get anymore real than having a baby! For more photos of Shawn and his new bride, see the posting below this one.
We ran into a lot of true-believers...
And some make-believers... She only wanted a Corvette, that seems reasonable!
It seemed like there were way more kids in town this year, which is great for the Fire Department, because taking Santa around is one of the happiest things that we do, for the town and us!
Fred, Carolyn, and Ernie share a cup of tea.
There were a lot of kids came up out of the new Orchard street apartments, we were there for a while.
Chief Anderson, Ernie and Tom develop a pre-plan.
This little girl was not going to go anywhere near Santa unless momma was there, then she developed a pretty long list of "necessities"
Melanie, Santa,and a true-believer. "Uhh, Mom... I left my list at home, can you go get it""
Chief Brian Anderson, Passenger; Assistant Chief Roger Ralsten Driver. "Rudolf" and "Blitzen" guide the old '37 LaFrance, it takes two people to steer it. 
Santa did a great job! We had very few kids that he couldn't charm!
I think that these two were in it for the candy canes, this is about their third trip!
Taking Santa around Redway on the Fire truck is a tradition that goes back to sometime in the fifties, where a man by the name of J.P. Rusk started it. He was one of the original framers of the Redway fire department , and he was big on Santa. The tradition stuck, and as far as anyone knows, we've never missed a year. It is one of the most special things that can ever be witnessed. Some kids are terrified, and some others run toward him with their arms open like he was their favorite person in the world. Maybe He is! Anyway, it is one of the most rewarding things that we do in the town of Redway. That is, other than a nice stop on what might have been a tragic fire.
By the time we got back to the Firehall it was pouring down rain and dark. But what a great day!!!
It seemed like we had about twice as many kids this year, and I don't know why, but it sure made it fun. We had people chasing us down the street and one person even went to Garberville to pick up her kids to see Santa!
Later that night we had our annual Christmas Party. We parked all of the fire-trucks in a local garage. We decorated the fire hall so it was quite festive, complete with fireplace and Christmas Tree. I had a cut of prime-rib that must have weighted a pound, complete with all the trimming's. Then we danced to the "Roadmasters" until midnight. My wife hasn't been up that late for years. She even danced to "Night-Riders in the Sky", and she used to say that she doesn't like County and Western music. They are a great band and can please any crowd. J.P. Rusk's widow, Evelyn, who will soon be one-hundred, was up dancing to the Music. She attends our party every year as one of the founders of the Redway Fire Department.
The some of the rest of the firefighters were in the following support vehicle. And there were some back decorating the fire-hall. There Is a hint of another truck with us in one of the photo's. Everyone was it complete turn-outs, and ready for a fire, except one noticeable exception, apparently he didn't now it was going to rain.
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