My husband and I are residents of Ramona and have both lived here through both the Cedar and the Witch fires. We have seen what the volunteers of Intermountain Volunteer Fire Department do for our community in times of extreme distress. A little over a year ago, our son (my step son) graduated from the Intermountain Fire Academy and became a volunteer at the department. We have watched him devote a 24 hour shift every single week since then and this has really opened our eyes to what the men and women do who volunteer their time there.
This past Christmas, my children spent the week with their father and I was left feeling I needed something positive to help bring back some Christmas spirit. In talking with my step-son, I found out that his 24 hour shift was to fall on Christmas day. I suddenly had an idea! We would provide Christmas turkey dinner with all the fixins to the firehouse. As it turned out, the volunteers at the main station already had family coming and bringing dinner, but we did make a full meal for the Ranchita station (there are three stations under the IVFD - the main station on 78, one in Santa Ysabel, and another in Ranchita). We were blessed to spend our Christmas day with some of the finest young men I have met. They are dedicated and committed to what they do for the community.
My husband and I wanted to give something more back to these volunteers who would be manning the firehouses on Christmas day, but on our limited budget, we did what we are good at - We turned to our amazing community! We visited local businesses who again reminded us of what an amazingly supportive town Ramona is to live in!!!!
We were able to surprise the 6 volunteers on duty Christmas day with stockings full of these generous gifts!!!! We couldn't have done it without such incredible local support. We wanted to thank everyone who gave without hesitation!! The Yogurt Barn donated six gift cards for $10 each, Da Tuna Shack donated six gift certificates for $13.50 each, Cold Stone donated six certificates for a free ice cream and one for six cupcakes; Amici gave three certificates for free sub sandwiches, Salerno Winery donated two gift certificates for a bottle of premium wine each, a private donor donated $20 for two $10 gift cards to Starbucks; and local real estate agent, Roxanne Dyer and her husband Joe donated three $10 gift cards to Rubio's and a 14 pound turkey for the dinner! Albertson's also donated four cases of soda for the dinner.
Thank you to the volunteers who watch over our community and back country, putting in more volunteer hours than most of us can even fathom, and even putting their own lives on the line! You guys rock!
With sincere gratitude,
Kat and Bob McClanahan
Proud Local Ramona Residents
