September 14, 2006
NEW ENGINE DEDICATION
The Midland Fire Department will hold a traditional Fire Engine Housing Ceremony to officially dedicate a new 2006 Pierce Fire Engine we will be placing in service at Fire Station 6, intersection of Midland Drive and Thomason. The ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m. on September 16, 2006, at Fire Station 6. Additional parking is available at Temple Baptist Church on Thomason, just East of the Fire Station.
The Midland Fire Department would like to invite the community, City Council Members, the Professional Firefighter’s Association, retired firefighters, and the media to attend and participate in this Fire Engine Housing Ceremony.
According to our research, firehouse legend holds that the housing ritual dates back to the early 1800s. Fire Engine companies would invite guests to the stations to see their new fire rigs. They backed their apparatus into the stations by pushing it into the stations instead of hooking up the horse teams. A “Housing Ceremony” was then started from those early days. The community would get involved along with the firefighters, in a gala event denoting a new start. The firefighters would clean and decorate the fire station, wear their best parade dress uniforms, and invite the community to help celebrate the fire company’s new good fortune. The ceremony includes pushing the apparatus back into the station three times, symbolizing the Holy Trinity. Due to the weight of modern day engines, engine power is used to assist the participants. For added luck, a dollar bill is sometimes placed behind one of the wheels before it is moved. In closing the ceremony, the fire apparatus is blessed into service.
Media contacts: Fire Chief Russ Conley or Asst. Chief of Operations Eddie Klatt at 685.7330
CITIZEN SURVEY
We want to hear from you!!! The Midland Police Department is conducting a citizen survey. Members of the department will be out in the public during the next few weeks hoping to receive feedback from citizens.
The 20-question survey addresses areas of community safety and crime concerns, neighborhood concerns, response to citizens, community programs, and overall satisfaction with the Patrol Division and the Detective Division. There is also an opportunity for citizens to make individual comments.
The mobile substation will be at the following locations distributing surveys:
| September 16 |
HEB |
| September 30 |
Wal-Mart (Rankin Highway) |
| October 14 |
Super Mercado |
| October 28 |
Wal-Mart (Midland Drive) |
Surveys are also available at the Midland Police Department, 601 N. Loraine or City Hall, 300 N. Loraine. You can receive a survey by mail by calling 685.7587.
The Midland Police Department has made a sincere commitment to community policing. The citizen survey is just one of the efforts toward continuing the process of bringing the police department and the community together. Citizens are able to express their opinions about crime, their neighborhoods, and the police department through the survey. The police department is then better able to address those concerns.
Together, we take another step in assuring that our community remains a safe place to live!
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