The presence the trailer continued to create, the support it provided – especially at funerals – and the members who continued to put their all into special services compelled Colligan to want to go bigger and better.“ Part of my thanks to them for the commitment they make to the Special Services unit,” he stipulates.
The plan to ramp up started with the head so to speak – finding an automobile dealership that would provide the truck to steer the body. Colligan hooked up with Steve Kalafer of Flemington Car & Truck Country, a longtime supporter of law enforcement who not only offered the Ford 250 for three years, but also annual donations to the Survivor & Welfare fund.
Thus, the research to find a company that would manufacture a custom trailer began. The design committee of Colligan, Hulse, Haase and Weimmer identified approximately 50 utility trailer manufacturers, and after thorough review via the internet, Mr. President reported that they all looked the same.
Then, through the Trailer Manufacturers Association – reale e
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The inaugural PBA trailer became a fixture at Ground Zero following the 9-11 attacks. It was parked at the corner of West and Warren streets where it provided supplies to first responders working on the pile and PBA Locals posted their signs of support. t p a t
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1991 poster child for the PBA, and the union’ s Special Services Committee raised money to help 18-month-old Megan get a heart transplant. Megan eventually received the heart, but died six weeks later due to a rare infection. The Megan Jaret Heart Fund provided the donation for the first trailer, which still has a plaque inside dedicated to Megan.
That first trailer spent weeks at Ground Zero following 9-11 from which Hulse and a contingent of thousands of members from hundreds of Locals served several thousand cups of coffee and provided other support to the law enforcement officers and firefighters working the pile. The trailer became a bit of a landmark at Ground Zero as a hub for signs of support to and from law enforcement, and, in fact, there are some photos at the 9-11 Museum where if you look close enough you can see that trailer.
The Special Services unit also was created to bring a PBA presence with the trailer to funerals for officers lost in the line of duty in New Jersey, New York and several other surrounding states. That service also has become part of the PBA trailer lore.
“ People expect to see it at funerals now,” asserts Andy Haase, the PBA’ s Second Vice-President and Teaneck Local 215 State Delegate who has been with the trailer at nearly every one of those funerals and dozens of other events.“ Members see it and they all gravitate to it.”
Haase has almost become synonymous with the trailer. His dedication to start on the road with it to an event as early as 4 a. m. and stay with it until well after sundown is the longstanding special service that also earned him PBA Executive Board Member of the Year in 2014.
If you don’ t see Haase with the trailer, then chances are you
see Ed Weimmer, now a retired member who has logged considerable miles in the trailer himself. Weimmer was part of the Ocean County contingent that worked the trailer during Hurricane Sandy where it was a hub for around-the-clock meals for the hundreds of law enforcement officers who came from across the country to assist with the rescue and recovery.
“ It absolutely gets them fired up,” Weimmer comments about the presence of the trailer at events.“ People come up to us to say‘ thank you’ for supporting them at events, and we say,‘ This is what the PBA does.’ We support the causes.”
Trailer hitched
28 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JULY 2016