“
We are very proud of
our heritage and what we have
stood for—pride, courage,
honor and dedication,”
says Fowler. “From that very
first meeting in 1919 to today, we
have always stood behind
our company motto:
‘Always Ready, Always Willing.’
We look forward to our
future—always building
on our past.
”
A Mosaic with more than 60,000 tiles is located in the Main Hall, built in 1974.
or members who no longer wish to
participate in firefighting and rescues.
Richard J. Fowler Jr, President and James
D. Skalos Jr, Chief head the group both
of whom have over 31 years of service
to Cherry City. The company provides
service to 2000 homes/apartments in its
fire district, and they provide mutual aid
to all of Shaler Twp. along with the nearby
communities that border Shaler.
“
We consider ourselves very
fortunate to continue to grow in
our membership ranks, with
young men and women joining to
carry on our traditions and the
lessons learned, in addition to
making our residents feel secure
in knowing that someone from
Cherry City will always
respond—day or night—
when they need us.
”
“Cherry City has always been a ‘family-
type’ atmosphere,” says Fowler. “We
have multiple families who have fourth
generation members as firefighters, so this
place means a lot to them, a second-home
to say the least. We have had to work very
hard to get where we are today—doing all
kinds of different types of fundraising, to
have the equipment that is the most up-
to-date anywhere. We are hard to break
traditions—being one of the very last local
fire companies to have a Street Fair (this
July’s event was our 80th). We still install
bells on our fire apparatus that are passed
down from old trucks to new—and those
bells go back decades in age.”
The Company has had over 700 people
join and 17 pieces of fire apparatus in the
last 100 years of being in the business of
firefighting/rescue. Of all those members,
136 men died as members.
“Despite trials in competition and
financial hardships, we consider ourselves
very fortunate to continue to grow in our
membership ranks, with young men and
women joining to carry on our traditions
and the lessons learned, in addition
to making our residents feel secure in
knowing that someone from Cherry City
will always respond—day or night—when
they need us.”
The group has been fundraising and
making preparations for the last five years
to celebrate their landmark 100 years of
uninterrupted service to the community.
The invitation-only event took place on
October 19, at the Holy Trinity Center,
Greek Orthodox Church, in McCandless.
“We are very proud of our heritage and
what we have stood for—pride, courage,
honor and dedication,” says Fowler. “From
that very first meeting in 1919 to today, we
have always stood behind our company
motto: ‘Always Ready, Always Willing.’
We look forward to our future—always
building on our past.” n
Firemen with President George W. Bush,
September 2006, when he arrived to survey the
damage from Hurricane Ivan.
Firemen with Marine 1 after Hurricane Ivan.
50th Anniversary photo, taken in 1969 in front of
new garage built in 1963.
50th Anniversary photo, taken in 1969 in front of
original station.
SHALER ❘ WINTER 2019
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