The shift starts at 8 a.m. on Christmas Day and finishes at 8 a.m. today. Early on Thursday, leftover toys from the Rescue Elves were delivered to the Ronald McDonald House by Engine One. The program provided toys for more than 100 children in the area this year.
Family members spoiled the jovial bunch of firefighters by providing enough food to feed the whole department. Santos Soto’s mom in Rogers made sure her son and his colleagues were well fed. Entertaining about 30 family members at her own home, she also managed to provide a heap of goodies, including chocolate cake, about 6 pounds of fudge and two peach cobblers.
Firefighter Stephen Gregory and his wife, Brenda’s Christmas morning started even earlier than his shift when their 16-month-old daughter, Jaycee, woke at about 4 a.m. with a temperature. A quiet day was in store for her until she got to visit with dad at the fire station. Brenda brought along more food for the shift. And Jaycee got to sit behind the wheel of one of the fire trucks. From the smile on her face, you wouldn’t know her day had started out a bit rough.
Maybe it was being with her dad.
“She will stand at the bottom of the stairs and call out for her daddy when he is working,” Brenda said. It seems today was no different. Jaycee’s arms went straight to daddy and she pepped up a little when in his arms. Her favorite saying at the moment, “What is that?” was in full swing around the massive engines in the bay area.
At home, Santa had delivered a miniature jumping castle and battery-operated bike, complete with helmet, similar to what dad wears. But her favorite present was a box that originally contained a pair of earrings for mom. It’s always the simple things.
Lunch at the firehouse consisted of hamburgers and fries and dinner was to be the main meal for Central Station. Rib-eye steaks with all the trimmings of Christmas were on the menu - chef for the evening was Mike Gully, known around the station for his great cooking.
In Troy it was all about generosity.
Police Chief Keith Reed took Christmas Eve off, so celebrations were held early at his home. With two grown children, Reed decided to work the Christmas Day shift, which started at 7 a.m.
Reed felt his young department, some with children, deserved the day with their families.
“It was quiet today but Sgt. David Lowry was a busy officer last night,” Reed said Thursday.
Tonight’s plans for Reed involve going home to watch his Celine Dion DVD and enjoy some of the exotic coffees he got for Christmas.
The night shift was being taken over by the new boy on the block, Officer Toby Twaite.
“Toby is single so he doesn’t mind allowing colleagues to have the night off with their families,” Reed said.
