 |
When the Gong Rings |
A Fire History of Charleston,
Illinois Compiled by Howard Taylor |
|
| FIRE
LOG |
1985 Page One Return to 1984 |
|
January 21- Trailer fire at Country Manor Trailer Park, 2 miles E. of Charleston March 26— Former fireman John Butler dies, funeral held May 6— Former fire captain Leonard Ward dies, funeral held June 6-9- Fire College at U. of I. July 18- Dale Price appointed chief of Mattoon Fire Department July 23- Fire Chief Leslie Hickenbottom retires; Thomas Watson appointed acting fire chief August 16- Chemical explosion at Charleston Water Treatment Plant, 3 injured |
September 30- Retirement dinner for Les Hickenbottom at Charleston Moose Lodge October 9- Tom Watson officially appointed as permanent chief of CFD October 30- Mel Taylor's Inspector job eliminated November 20- Mayor Choate (cost-cutting-cutting mayor) in controversy over expensive office furniture November 21- Central Illinois Fire Chief's Meeting at Kankakee November 26- Retirement dinner for Wayne Hampton at Station #1 December 21— Retired fireman Russell Rogers qualifies for heart transplant |
| 1985
Pages Index: Page Two Page Three Page Four Page Five Page Six Page Seven Page Eight Page Nine Page Ten |
| .
. . stops with the year 1985. The Taylor Historical file stops at this
year.
Melvin Taylor lived until 1990, but after his release as Fire Inspector
he evidently lost interest in maintaining the file. He was still
interested
in the CFD and kept track of its activities. He attended Pension
Meetings,
retirement dinners and some special occasions. The CFD is still under
the
leadership of Tom Watson, Chief as of this writing (1994). Perhaps Tom
will
come out with his official History of the CFD in the future and fill in
the
story through the present and even beyond. My history was for fun, and a preclude
to
my writing of original children's books about fire service, trucks and
fire-horses. I hope you enjoyed this series of Charleston Fire
Logs.
Check out my book, "When the Gong Rings" at the Charleston Public
Library for details with tons of pictures, names and
descriptions. I
can now understand the concept of retirement. I just retired
after
nearly 35 years of public school teaching, and have re-entered the
field
as part-time gifted education teacher for Charleston. I thought I
was
through, but actually I've not quit yet. Howard Taylor, Author |