Mesa Fire showed up with their own photographer and videographer ... 
I was sent the link to their site and the 3 short videos they shot. If you want to get a really good feel of what happens there, you need only take a few moments and watch the videos. They are done beautifully!!!
http://www.cityofmesa.org/fire/Admin/HonorGuard.aspx
Kudos, and we are taking a serious look at coming to see y'all on the next national tour! Thanks Rick, and all of our Mesa Heroes.
Well done!
( ;
lj
Sep 15, 2007 - After the memorial ...
So most of the participants headed off to share time with each other and enjoy Colorado Springs, and the outlying areas. Some spent time with the families they presented flags to.
And then there were the rest of us who were with "Mama" Rose, doing some kitchen time. I cannot say I was deep in the trenches. I visited, took some pictures, oiled some bread, helped pack, and not much more.
Meanwhile, Rose and her son, Frank, spent nearly every moment of their time in the kitchen at the Doubletree. Kevin & Hailey had KP for a lot of their time.
Poor Hailey was dragging, and caught cat naps where she could ... and we caught pictures of her every chance we got. hehe
Even our Marine, Jonathan, was drafted into kitchen time. He went in willingly, but soon found out that his drill sergeants had nothing on this small bundle of energy heading up the kitchen!
Kevin and Jonathan were plotting while working. Joe kept us laughing, cuz it seemed like every time rose would blow up, it would crack him up.
Suffice it to say you had to be there. In the midst of the storm it was crazy and chaotic. Looking back, it was crazy and chaotic ... but it was delicious, and a memory I will keep always.
And even more, it brought happiness, smiles, hugs & more, from our USAFA Firefighters.
Dinner was filled first with silence as everyone dug in to some wonderful homecooked food. Then there was laughter and silliness, then a lot of full bellies, and recognition that most every one of us had eaten too much of a good thing, and couldn't wait for more!
And then there were some of us who ate so much they fell asleep on the spot. Good thing there was a camera around, eh?
But from the other side of the house came a huge sticky, sweet and yummy trifle made by one of the young firefighters. She's a camera shy lass, but one heck of a firehouse cook!
After dinner, we tried to get some photos in the bay, but it is always hard to get inside shots like that, especially at night. So there are a number of them. As usual, there are a number of very similar big group shots, so that hopefully everyone can get a good pic of themselves in the group.
A really special touch was made for Rose as we sat at one of the rigs, a young firefighter presented Rose with a wood carving he had made for her, depicting the raising of the flag at Ground Zero. They all signed the back of it, and it was obvious from her reaction that it truly touched her heart.
So, no matter the heat in the kitchen ... would I do it again? Ummm, hmmmm ...YOU BETCHA!
A salute to our Academy heroes!
lj
September 15, 2007 - Day of the ceremony ... Part 2
And yes, there are some duplicates, but mostly in the big group shots. It is hard to get a good picture of 2 people together. At least one of them will find something they don't like about their picture ... cuz humans are just fum like that. ( ;
Anyway, I wanted to make sure that the folks in the pictures are able to find at least one or two shots where they might like their likeness.
But, there are also a LOT of pix yet to do, if you find glaringly bad edits, or pictures, let me know the number of the picture in question. I will happily take helpful tips.
Enjoy! More to come! Sigh. lol
lj
September 15, 2007 - Day of the ceremony
There are over a thousand photos that I am editing for this one day, The journal only allows 300 pictures per post, so there will be several parts to this posting. The photos do not necessarily post in the order taken. Sorry, have always had this issue.
In the meantime, can you imagine how many words these photos could speak. Enjoy the pix and I will post after these are all set.
End of first post for Sep 15, 07
lj
There was so much going on, and so many photos of the practice, that I had to do a second part of the pix.
These are mostly from Jack Quinn's on Friday night - there are a few from Doubletree's Maxi's Lounge. And this isn't even the big night!
IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger & Rich Duffy showed up at Quinn's and joined in the reverie for a short while.
Enjoy the pictures. Time to rest my eyes for a day, and then get the rest of these up.
( ;
lj
Friday -- Sep 14, 2007
K, so we're going in order and all of the pix have to be gone through and edited. So, here are the pix from the practice on Friday.
I will hopefully get the Quinn's pix up from today, later on tonight.
Stay with me, there are a lot of pictures. Hey, I know, you can go through your drawers and closets looking for shirts to send us for the shirt drive while you're waiting!
( ;
lj
Thursday -- Sep 13, 07
Some of us came in yesterday, some are still arriving. But there are so many familiar faces every where you look.
Framingham, Manchester, Sarnia, Tacoma, Seattle, Tualatin Valley, Everett, Colorado Springs, FDNY, and more. So many smiles and lots of hugs after not seeing great friends.
I got in in the afternoon, yesterday from the pacific northwest. It was a nice day, actually a touch to the toasty side. Colorado Springs was just perfect weather.
Day one, was pretty much getting settled in, finding out where everyone was, getting nametags, and checking out the store to see what cool things they'd added to the shelves.
I knew I'd be on for camera duty once the crowd was obvious. So the first pictures are from the Doubletree as we planned dinner at the local Macaroni Grill and the trip to Jack Quinn's.
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Rose Foti, her son Frank, and her band of merry helpers were busy with the first of several days of KP. Even our own Marine, Jonathan Coffey, was drafted for kitchen duty. Meatballs, pasta, and bread everywhere and tasking for each. It looked like controlled chaos, and it smelled like heaven! I tried to stay out of the kitchen, and knew that from just the sheer volumes of what was about to happen, things would get serious back here pretty soon. Good thing Jonathan has Marine training, surely a sweet lil Italian mom would be no challenge for the Marines. hehe
Dinner wasour third expedition to the Macaroni Grill, and to see our favorite waitress, Sarah. Turns out she is from Massachusetts, and this lil spitfire took complete control of that room, handling about 80 hungry mouths. Great job girl, and see ya next year.
During dinner, some of the heroes in the room got "Shirt Faced" for us. Niiiiice! Aaron Setunsky, brought out his pipe and played for us. Toasts were made all around, and our Marine got a standing ovation from the whole room, making him feel very welcome.
Huuuuuuuge portions, great food, and the very best dinner companions made this one for the memory books.
Afterward if was off to Quinn's to see everyone. Soon, the pipes and drums would take over the street, and walking about freely would be a bit of a challenge.
Enjoy the pix ... if yours are in here, it means we're hoping for shirts from you/your department for this year's drive.
More tomorrow!
lj
These are the photos from Doubletree, Macaroni Grill, and Quinn's. There a whole lot more to be edited and posted.
Hey y'all, we need those shirts, eh?
C'mon, get "Shirt Faced"! 
The UPS/FedEx/DHL address is:
HeroToHero.US
attn: Liz Jackson
5700 100th Ave SW
Suite 224
Lakewood, WA 98499
We need all you can send til we can get everyone in the habit of sending us their shirt every September 11th til the troops come home from Iraq.
And troops, go to the website www.HeroToHero.US to get yourself and your unit on the adoption list. Remember, it is first come, first served. Fill out and send us the online adoption request form. **We are working on the site as we go along, so we are aware there are some small items to be corrected to update. If you see booboos, let us know.
Requests have started coming in. They close on New Year's Eve.
We'll pack the shirts (hats, patches, etc) on March 8th, 2008. Be sure to get them to us by Valentine's Day (Feb 14th)
lj & the crews
This post is going to be brief, only because the day was very long.
We began the morning with the Tacoma Fire Department Honor Guard & Pipers for their annual remembrance ceremony on the Ruston Waterway at the Tacoma Fallen Firefighter Memorial.
As uniformed personnel, and civilians stood side by side, the pipes played and viewers held close to their loved ones. There were quiet sniffles and tears as we listened to Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma, and TFD Fire Chief Ron Stephens.
From the young recruits at Bates Tech, who stood in formation for the duration to the old hands on deck, all paid their respects.
We were honored to stand and honor all of our heroes present, and those no longer with us.
Afterward we went to McChord Air Force Base to present the flag given to us for this purpose by Shanksville Fire Chief Terry Shafer. He signed a personal messages to the MAFB firefighters, and we chose this as the most appropriate day to make the presentation. I think we caught them offguard, but as we were readying to leave we heard the mention of a new display case for this special honor ... We will follow up on this one and post the displayed flag when we get notified.
But our day was not over. It was off to Safeco Field for the Hero To Hero Color Guard to open the Mariners special 9/11 tribute game. This was just very cool! **Right up to the point that yours truly realized I had shot so many pictures today that I had no battery left ... just as they officially hit the field!
But this was a day of heroes ... and right about now, I have to say that the attending Sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln were my personal heroes tonight! AS I stood their on the field, the sad realization that I had no camera was killing me. I looked around and over my shoulder was a handsome young sailor with a nice fancy camera, and a huge lens. I'm sure I appeared desperate ... and for the record I was.
Our multi agency color guard marched beautifully onto the filed to the pitcher's mound, flags flying ... and our name on the big screen ... and I was in a jam.
The sailors, with their camera and camcorder really stepped up and saved me. Captain Patrick Hall, thank you for allowing your troops to help us out. You did a lot for this troop morale campaign! **We swapped business cards and I will get and post their photos when I receive them. But be advised that I am leaving early in the morning for Colorado Springs for the IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial, so those pictures will have to wait for my return next week.
In the meantime, please enjoy these photos of our day. Mostly we want to share that America's Heroes have not forgotten. America has not forgotten!
Hug a hero, kiss your loved one.
lj & the crew
PS ... There will be more pictures from today and more written after the memorial.
There are some specific thanks we want to make and let you know who was involved today ... Stay tuned!
Heeeeeeeeeere we go!
lj & the crew
********************************************
**Okay, so I set my alarm to make sure I hit send just before midnight only to realize the journal is set to the eastern time zone. Bit I swear it was only 2 minutes to midnight here. Sigh.
So, offically now it is September 11th ... Troop Adoptions are OPEN until the stroke of midnight, New Year's Eve.
