Peekskill FD Bell

[PFD165 1]

On Wednesday March 21 at 09:00 the old Peekskill FD fire bell will be removed from its home of the past 45 years and will be sent to the Verdin Company in Cincinatti to be restored.

The bell is a bronze bell 53" in diameter weighing approximately 3,000 lbs attached to a steel yoke weighing an additional 2,500 lbs. The bell was cast in 1907 by the Meneely Bell Company of Troy, NY.

The bell tolled out the only LODD fire in the City's history, August 1, 1918 - Fleischmann's Warehouse. 7 Peekskill volunteers were crushed by the collapse of the grain silo walls.

At its current location, between S. Division and Crompond Rd near the firehouse, the bell sits on the ground and is subject to vandalism by the local high school students. When the bell is returned it will be restored to its orginal bronze color and will hang from a 20' garden tower at the Lincoln Plaza located on Water Street across from the old Centennial Hose building.

The bell will be retrofitted with an electric clapper that will allow the bell to be programed to ring at various times as set by the FD/City. There will also be a remote for the ringer so that it can be used for specific ceremonies such as the annual August 1 memorial service and September 11 memorial service.

The Lincoln Plaza will also be the home to the Sam Oitice Heroes Remembered Memorial and Wall of Heroes. This memorial will honor Sam Oitice of FDNY L4 and Peekskill E134 along with the other 342 FDNY, 37 PAPD and 23 NYPD members killed on September 11. This statue is also being cast by the Verdin Company and is in the design stages.

The department has a committee - the Sam Oitice Heroes Remembered Memorial Committee - that is raising funds for these projects. The committee is still approximately $80,000 short of the goal to memorialize the 7 heroes lost on August 1, 1918 and the 403 lost on September 11, 2001.

Anyone who wishes to make a donation or purchase a t-shirt, patch, bracelet, decal can e-mail pintl@aol.com, mrspat16@aol.com or capte130@aol.com for more information.

The help and support of all those in the fire service and law enforcement would be greatly appreciated in this truly fitting tribute to those who have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.

Photos:

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[PFD165 1]

Shirt front/back and patch/decal shown under merchandise at:

http://samoiticeheroesrememberedmemorial.org

[RWC130 594]

Looking forward to seeing the bell restored!

[Oswegowind 17]

When I went to take pictures of the St Pats parade in Peekskill, I was shooting from right next to the bell for most of the time...Even got some shots of it for myself...unknowing that this was going on! Glad I got em in time...and I think it is great that they are rehabbing it...was in an awkward place with all the great h.s. kids going by it every day...and caring for it!

[PFD165 1]

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...370/1018/NEWS02

For those of you that live outside the Journal News coverage area, this is the article on the bell and 9/11 Memorial.

[RWC130 594]

Bell Restored!

PFD165 request I post this photo, Enjoy!

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[PFD165 1]

Here is a standing shot of the bell restored back to its original color.

The Memorial committee will be at the Fire -Cats show and Muster this Sunday. Stop by and make a $10 donation in the name of a fallen hero of September 11. Monies will go toward the building of the "Wall of Heroes". Also available will be t-shirts, patches, decals, pins and memorial bracelets.