The Sloatsburg Volunteer Fire Department recently participated in a Nyack celebration and anniversary parade honoring the all-volunteer Nyack Fire Department and marking its 150th year of service. The event marked the formation of the Nyack fire department and also marked the 150th anniversary of Empire Hook and Ladder Co 1, based at the historic firehouse at 330 North Broadway in Upper Nyack.

The parade took place this past weekend and traveled through Upper Nyack, Nyack, South Nyack, with residents and others from surrounding Rockland County communities lining the streets to cheer on local volunteer firefighters and friends.

Dressed in their parade best, members of the Sloatsburg Fire Department participated in the parade, with a grand stand walk by and salute that honored the Nyack FD and its long and storied Hudson Valley history.

Bill Demarest wrote about the parade in the Nyack Free Press, complete with a short video of the day’s festivities that included the passing of the Sloatsburg department.

Demarest also wrote about the return of  Nyack’s vintage Seagrave ladder truck that made a return trip from Cooperstown town for the occasion.  The department bought the truck in 1930 and it served rear driver ladder truck served the department through 1954.

Demarest has the full story on how Empire Hook and Ladder President David Gottlieb and his brother bought the old Seagrave in a private transaction that brought the truck back to Nyack for both the parade and as a piece of the Empire Hook and Ladder’s history.

“My brother and I were at the Yankees game and we made the decision to buy the truck right there,” said David Gottlieb, in Demarest’s article. The Gottliebs paid a NY collector for the truck and also to have it shipped back to Rockland County. “We could not miss this opportunity,” said Gottlieb. “This is a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity,” he said.

Read about the return of the Seagrave ladder truck to Rockland County at Nyack Free Press.

Photos of Nyack Fire Department and Sloatsburg Fire Department courtesy of Bill Demarest.