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TPW-JAN16

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18 nJanuary 2016n www.thunderpress.net by "Rambler" Steve Austin SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF., NOV. 14—San Francisco fi refi ghters conduct the largest Firefi ghter Toy Program in the United States. Last year they served over 31,000 families thanks to their year-round collection efforts. The program has been running since 1949. When I covered the fi rst Johnny V Toy Run back in 2006 the program was being run out of old Station #30 on Third Street. That has been since been taken over by other city offi ces. For the last two years, the San Francisco Academy of Art has donated about 3,900 square feet of space to not only store the toys but provide offi ce space to allow the program to run, so today the run started at their location on Jerrold Street in San Francisco. John Voelker, or Johnny V as he was better known, was a San Francisco City fi refi ghter for 29 years and was the heart and soul of the over-60-year- old San Francisco Firefi ghters Toy Program, sponsored by Firefi ghter's Union Local 798. Johnny died in a motorcycle accident in 2005, but his spirit lives on in the spirit of the pro- gram and his friends. Johnny had been leading the bikes in the toy run so the year after his death it was named in his honor by his riding friends in the Barbary Coast Chapter of Wind and Fire. Sally Casazza is now the chairper- son of the toy program and doing all of the things that Johnny did to make sure the program runs smoothly. They have some large donors to help keep the doors open too. Sally said they had a fundraiser last week and brought in a lot of money and toys from various groups including a group of strippers. Unfortunately, due to appearances, their money had to be returned. It did make the news after all. The money raised not only goes to toys but clothing and a burn camp for children. Johnny volunteered for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation, in which he helped children who had suffered burns. He spent summer vaca- tions and days off working as a camp counselor at the Foundation's Camp Champ in the San Joaquin Valley. Many of the Wind and Fire crew also work there. There were several barrels fi lled with toys. The donation for the run was $25 or $5 if you brought a new unwrapped toy so everyone had a toy or two in their arms. There was a 50/50 raffl e, a regular raffl e, a silent raffl e and T-shirts to buy. There were over 100 raffl e prizes ranging in value from $20 to $200. Not bad for a buck. When it was time to go, 50 bikes and 70 riders rolled out of the inside of the dock area of the college, led out by a fi re truck with lights and siren. The San Francisco Motor Unit provided traffi c control and blocked all major intersections as we drove a very circuitous route through the city, down along the Embarcadero and back up through Chinatown through the Broadway Tunnel. (If San Francisco can't build a street over the mountains, they'll bore a hole through it.) Once out of Chinatown we headed back to the Embarcadero to the Bay View Boat Club. Lunch was ready when we arrived and consisted of pulled pork and various temperatures of fi rehouse chili, barbecue beans, coleslaw, maca- roni salad and dinner rolls. Since they had a full bar, drinks were left to your imagination. A Bay Area band called Mixx Company provided the music and did a great job with soul, funk and classic rock tunes. The person who traveled the fur- thest was a Wind and Fire member from Marseilles, France—Anthony Locks. He had been vacationing in America for about three months and was due to fl y back to France December 1. After lunch, everyone was up and dancing. Terri Leanio called out the raffl e ticket numbers during music breaks, but there were so many prizes that she tired of it and fi nally called everyone who hadn't won a prize yet to go up and pick one up. Among the prizes was a chrome fi re helmet from France supplied by Anthony. This was a high-demand item, but in the end Lisa Hobbs won it. Dianne Catalano from Pleasant Hill and Mount Diablo H.O.G. won the 50/50 drawing and took home $130 for her share. I talked a little with Bob Postel who told me his father was a fi refi ghter for 51 years. He would go to the sta- tion as a kid with his father and would eye the presents the other fi refi ghters would bring in, but he would bring in a present of his own and donate that. The fi nale came when the Guardian Fire Boat Number 2 fl oated into the area just beyond the seawall and shot off all its water cannons at once with a water salute to honor Wind and Fire and Johnny V with a water salute. You don't see these too often, so it's a pretty awesome sight when you do. The backdrop was three ships and because the sun was getting low the sun going through the water mist was causing a rainbow effect. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. 4 JOHNNY V TOY RUN Barrels of booty Honoring efforts with a water salute The Guardian-San Francisco Fire Boat Number 2 gives a water salute to Wind and Fire Motorcycle Club and Johnny V Barbary Coast Wind and Fire with the Sonoma-Marin and Central Sierra chapters Chris Wilkeen (left), Santa Pat Gardner and Diane Smerdel.

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