The 13th Annual Hook and Ladder Enduro took place on Saturday, March 19, in its usual location just outside of California City. A great crowd of LAFD families and friends gathered to enjoy the friendship and camaraderie that has become a great part of this event.
The days leading up to the event were warm, calm, and perfect desert weather. Great working weather for those volunteers setting up and marking the course, working registration, t-shirt sales, silent auction, and cashiers. Then someone looked up the weather on www.windy.com and saw what one would expect from a website like that – WIND! This was the strongest wind event in our 13-year history, and combined with the dust, the dirtiest. People were seen with goggles on, walking around with leashes, not on their dogs, but on their kids, so they wouldn’t blow away! Dust devils were spotted and these mini tornados brought more dust, dirt, and debris as they made their way through camp. But, even with that, the event went off as planned and everyone had a great time.
The winners included:
Class One: 1st Cory Garrett, 2nd Dylan Smith, 3rd Geoff Lite.
Class Two: 1st John Breckshot, 2nd Austin Prince, 3rd Frank Sitler
In the Powder Puff and Picnic classes, the names were drawn from the hat for the winners. Our apologies as we forgot to write down the names as we pulled the cards. Tim said he would fix that next time.
The winners all received beautifully engraved backpacks provided by OGIO. Speaking of sponsors, we want to thank everyone who made this event successful. In particular, Mechanix Wear, Pit Boss, Pelican, Ron Rezek Engineering, Troy Lee Designs, The Greenspan Co, and the law office of Lewis, Marenstein, Wicke, Sherwin and Lee, LLP.
Teter’s Trailer was in full swing with Steve Berkery and his crew cooking up 700 hot dogs with a new secret spice called Polvo! The wind was incessant, but they persevered, and everyone got fed.
As most of you know this was the last year that myself, my wife, Debbie (Incident Commander) and Craig and Tori White will be running the Hook and Ladder Enduro. Tim Wuerfel, with his family and friends will be taking the reins moving forward. Craig and I resurrected the event in 2010 after a long absence from the 1970s. We are proud of what we have built and want to thank all the volunteers who made it happen, along with all of you for coming out and supporting this great cause. You donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last thirteen years.
This event brings us together in a time when it is most needed. We are confident that it will only get better under the guidance of Tim and his family.
By Bruce Galien
