Swede Day and Fire Trucks

I’ve never been to Swede Day but have heard of it a few times over the years.  I never really needed to go to Rochester for any reason until I met Ben.  He was stationed and lived at the Rochester fire house so we went back and forth a lot to and from Rainier.  He mentioned that the town was getting ready for Swede Day and that the firefighters and their vehicles were in the parade every year.  He asked me to ride in the tinder with him and John. 

Swede Day in Rochester had been an annual celebration since 1979.  It is always held on the third Saturday in June and is formally titled “Swede Day Midsommsr Festival” but is usually just called “Swede Day.”  It is a time when the entire community can come together to celebrate the Swedish-Finnish people who populated this area many years ago before son many of us non Swedish-Finnish moved here.  It is a time when each of us can become Swedish-Finnish even though we have no Swedish or Finnish blood flowing through our veins.
I was supposed to meet him at the Grand Mound fire station around 10.  Mom was supposed to go with me to get pictures but she was too late and I left without her.  I really don’t think she cared.  The night before, Ben and I bought some doughnuts from Safeway to share with the guys while we were getting ready for the parade.  I brought the good camera to take a few pictures during the parade.

I got there just as they finished washing the rigs.  I grabbed everything we needed and jumped in the tinder.  We got to the staging area and people were in the way preventing us from getting to our spot in the parade.  It got all worked out and we lined up and waited for our turn.  In the meantime, I shared the doughnuts, met some new people that work for West Thurston and even got to meet the fire commissioner, who rode with us in the tinder.

I got a few pictures of Ben and his West Thurston crew along with some of the patrons of the parade.  We hung on that stretch of road for a while until we got the okay that it was time to go.  We all hopped into the tinder and waited for our turn.  I got to wear the fire helmet.  We were the last entry in the parade so we had the banner thanking everyone for coming and supporting the festivities.  I guess everyone went to Swede Hall for the rest of the scheduled events. 

Swede Hall is the building and property at 18543 Albany Street in Rochester.  The building was erected in 1939 by a group of local citizens associated with the Finnish-American Order of Runeberg.  It is now owned by the Grand Mound Rochester Citizens Group.  An important part of the mission is to preserve the Historic Swede Hall as an inexpensive rental venue for the local community.
About half way through, the weather turned and it started to rain a little bit.  It never got out of control but it didn’t matter because I was inside the tinder.  We took the long back way around to Grand Mound.  We stopped at the gas station to fill up before we went back to the station.  Ben had some other stuff left to do and I went home.

I heard we missed a huge thunder and lightning storm and for some reason it never touched Rochester the entire three hours we were outside.

Next Adventure:  Father’s Day