Brookline Fire Company Parade Info

Brookline Fire Company will be celebrating it’s 100 year anniversary on Saturday, June 7, 2014. Fire companies from all around the area and even some from Boston will be present for the event. We’ve gathered some official and unofficial information about the parade, the traffic routes, what to expect and more. Please share! We also have a discussion over on our Facebook page.

Brookline Official Page

Brookline Fire Company Facebook Page (check here for photos after the event, share your photos too)

From the Official Facebook Page for the Parade:

“Come join us for a day of Emergency Vehicles, Marching Bands, Bag Pipes, and many other vehicles to help celebrate our 100th year of service! Parade will kick off at 12 Noon and will travel from Manoa and Allston roads, and will travel Manoa Rd, Earlington Rd, and Brookline Blvd. The parade will end at station 35.”

Details:

Parade time: Noon to 2 P.M. Silent parade, no sirens. Over 100 Firetrucks to see and tour. Bring the little ones!

NO PARKING signs already up length of parade route and more on Darby Road to Rte 3.

Parade route:

A. Parade Start: Route 1.3 miles long

Registration: Leedom Road and Mill Road
Apparatus Staging: Brookline Blvd. & Darby Rd. to Darby Rd. & Park Ave.
Marching Units Staging: Chatham Park Elementary School
Brookline Fire Company: Awards presentation
Reviewing Stand
Brookline Fire Company Staging
Non Fire Staging: Kennmore Rd.
Apparatus Parking after parade: Middle and High School

B. End of Parade

BASEBALL and SOFTBALL CHANGES

From an email from Brookline Baseball:

“Due to the parade, Brookline Baseball & Softball has had to alter its playing schedule. Chatham Park, a staging area, will be shut down and traffic around the Police Field will be slow but not impassible.

We are fortunate to have Joe Hagan from the Haverford Twp. Police, on our Board. Joe has shared with us the following information to help those whose kids will be playing at the Police Field on Saturday as well as for all Township residents. Here is Joe’s guidance to us.

Road closures:

Darby Road is not being shut down completely.

The north bound traffic is being funneled into the south bound lane.

Manoa Road will be closed for approximately two hours during the parade from Darby to Earlington only.

Earlington will be closed from Manoa to Brookline during the two hours of the parade from 12 Noon to 2 PM.

Brookline Blvd. will be closed during the parade.

Traffic during the day will be heavy but will also be managed by the police department.

Chatham Park area closures:

People who are marching are staging at Chatham Park on the fields near Allston Road prior to the parade

Allston Rd. will be closed from 11:30 until the last marcher enters Manoa Rd.

So the only field that will be affected will be Chatham Park.

The Police Field is open during the event and people will have access to the field both by Darby Road and Manoa Road.

Those who are close enough to take a healthy walk to the Police Field might benefit from not driving.

Our playoff schedule for Minor and Major Boys and Girls and Preps might be slightly altered depending on circumstances. Please seek guidance from both our website as well as from your team’s coach on your games.

Brookline Day will be pushed to Sat. June 14 to accommodate the realities of the parade. A separate communication on Brookline Day will be forthcoming.

The Board of Brookline Baseball & Softball”

We here at Havertownies will add any more info when we find it. Make sure to visit us at the Havertownies Facebook Page, too. Thanks!

UPDATE June 6, 2014. 5:15 PM EDT:

65 Fire Companies, 170+ apparatuses, 1000+ firemen marching and marching bands! It’ll be a HUGE event, full of honor, tradition, memories, and the science of the future.

This is a “Fireman’s Parade” which means it is meant to honor those who serve or served and to display fire fighting apparatus. In a fireman’s parade, there is judging of the fire equipment. The judging is based on “Best Appearing” and “Most Functional” trucks, across many different categories (like old, new, large, small, etc.” There is a panel of judges who will be evaluating some trucks from over 170 pieces of apparatus, coming from as far as Brookline, New Hampshire and Brookline, Massachusetts. Our Brookline is the host, so they won’t be in the competition. Helping to celebrate anniversaries is in the fire company tradition, so fire companies try to show up when their fellow firefighters have something to commemorate. Our Brookline fire company hosts a Fireman’s Parade every 25 years.

It’s not just for firemen, though! This is an all-ages event. As soon as the first truck passes in front of Brookline fire company, there will be free hot dogs and root beer for everyone in front of the Brookline firehouse. We’re guessing this will be sometime after noon and before 12:30 pm.

This is a rare event because not all of our 5 Volunteer Fire Companies here in H-Town host Fireman’s parades. It’s a nice opportunity to witness a rich part of fireman culture and tradition.

TRAFFIC PATTERNS

Originally, the judging was to take place in the middle school and high school parking lots, but it turns out there are scheduling conflicts. The firetrucks will now be parked along Darby Road’s East side (the side by Brookline Fire House). The west side of Darby Road (by the Skatium) will be single lane both ways the majority of Darby Road to Eagle. There is no parking on Darby from Park and Darby to Marthart and Darby. This is where the trucks will “stage” before the parade and park after the parade.

Park on the side streets. Residents of the Brookline area: Thank you for hosting this event, even if you didn’t want to! We love our community days and you guys definitely get the brunt of it. We all appreciate you! Sorry in advance if someone parks wrong. Perhaps park your cars in your driveways to make more room, just for the day? Also, that way we can see clearly where your driveway is.

Visiting residents: Make sure to respect all parking rules and leave residents a good bit of room to make a turn into their driveways. And remember to fold in your side mirrors. The streets will be tight. And kids- don’t dart out! Cross at the corners carefully, please!

NOT TOUCH A TRUCK

The trucks will be available for viewing but there probably won’t be much “hands on” interaction like Touch-A-Truck. All are still welcome to come and take a good look and talk to the fire company members with the truck. Welcome them all to Haverford Township and thank them for coming!

All the stores and vendors around Brookline ave know this event is tomorrow. Although there have not been official vendor booths set up, probably restaurants will have some food available to buy. If you’re looking for more than free hot dogs, we’re pretty sure you’ll find it easily.

Thanks to Bill Stapleton, Assistant Chief at Brookline Fire. Best of luck tomorrow, Brookline!