JACKET
https://collections.galtmuseum.com/link/artifact13147
- Material Type
- Artifact
- Other Name
- COLD WEATHER JACKET
- Materials
- NYLON, POLYESTER
- Catalogue Number
- P20150010024
- Material Type
- Artifact
- Other Name
- COLD WEATHER JACKET
- Date
- 2001
- Materials
- NYLON, POLYESTER
- No. Pieces
- 2
- Height
- 81.4
- Length
- 166.7
- Description
- COLD WEATHER JACKET, WITH REMOVABLE LINER. A: OUTER SHELL. NAVY BLUE, WITH TWO IDENTICAL PATCHES ON THE SHOULDERS. PATCHES ARE REULEAUX TRIANGLES, BORDERED IN GOLD COLOURED THREAD. "RESCUE EMS FIRE" CLOCKWISE AROUND THE CENTRAL COAT OF ARMS FOR THE "CITY OF LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPT." FOUR POCKETS ON THE FRONT OF THE JACKET, EACH WITH ITS OWN FLAP. BREAST POCKET FLAPS EACH HAVE PATCHES AS WELL: ON THE WEARER’S RIGHT SIDE, IS A SIX-SIDED PATCH FROM NEW YORK CITY. PATCH HAS A GOLD BORDER AND "FIRE DEPARTMENT" IS ALSO IN GOLD. BELOW "FIRE DEPARTMENT" IS "CITY OF NEW YORK" IN WHITE THREAD. AN IMAGE OF THE CITY SKYLINE IS BELOW IN WHITE, WITH A CIRCLE AND FLAMES IN RED OVERTOP. THE LEFT SIDE BREAST POCKET HAS A ROUND PATCH, AGAIN BORDERED IN GOLD THREAD. IN GOLD WRITING "* FDNY BN 49 * EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 3723". THE CENTRE OF THE PATCH HAS A STARS AND STRIPES BACKGROUND, WITH THE CITY OF NEW YORK SKYLINE IN WHITE. ABOVE THIS CIRCULAR PATCH IS A RECTANGULAR NAVY PATCH, WITH GOLD WRITING: "MAJOR HABKIRK CHAPLAIN". ZIPS CLOSED WITH A NAVY BLUE, TWO-WAY, PLASTIC ZIPPER. ALSO HAS A PLACKET, WITH 6 SILVER COLOURED SNAPS. TWO ZIPPERS UNDER THE ARMS ZIP OPEN FROM THE WAIST. ELASTICIZED HEM AND CUFFS, WITH CUFFS HAVING A PIECE OF VELCRO TO ALLOW FURTHER ADJUSTMENT. HIDDEN HOOD IN COLLAR. HOOD IS ZIPPERED INTO THE BACK OUTER NECK OF THE JACKET. NAVY BLUE CORDED DRAWSTRING AT NECK, WITH EACH SIDE HAVING A PLASTIC, ADJUSTABLE TOGGLE. LABEL IN THE BACK, AT NECK: BACKGROUND IS A LARGE RED "N" WITH WHITE WRITING OVERTOP: "TRADITIONS -4 - PAR/BY R. NICHOLLS DISTRIBUTERS INC. CA 04719 TG/XL" B: INNER LINER. NAVY BLUE. LINER ZIPS OUT OF SHELL ON EACH SIDE WITH A TWO-WAY, NAVY BLUE, PLASTIC ZIPPER. PIECE OF VELCRO AT BACK OF NECK HELPS KEEP LINER IN PLACE. SLEEVES OF LINER HELD IN PLACE WITH SNAPS. OVERALL IN VERY GOOD TO EXCELLENT CONDITION. SOME SIGNS OF WEAR AROUND THE NECK, OTHERWISE NO VISIBLE WEAR OR TEAR.
- Subjects
- CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR
- Historical Association
- SAFETY SERVICES
- History
- ON NOVEMBER 5 2015, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED FORMER LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT CHAPLAIN MAJOR GLEN HABKIRK (SALVATION ARMY), TO DISCUSS THE DONATION OF HIS COLD WEATHER JACKET: HABKIRK EXPLAINED HOW IT WAS THAT HE CAME TO BE CHAPLAIN WITH THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT: “I WAS INVOLVED BECAUSE THE SALVATION ARMY SENT ME HERE IN JULY OF 1993 TO LOOK AFTER THE COMMUNITY SERVICE END AND ONE DAY I WAS TALKING TO A FIRE PREVENTION OFFICER, AND HE ASKED ME ABOUT BEING THE CHAPLAIN. FROM THERE, I TOOK CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS TRAINING AND HAD LOTS OF INVOLVEMENT WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT THROUGH THAT WAY, AND MANY FIRE DEPARTMENTS THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN ALBERTA. SO, I HAD SAID TO THEM WHEN THEY ASKED ME TO BE CHAPLAIN, ‘IF YOU WANT A CHAPLAIN JUST TO ATTEND FUNERALS AND BANQUETS, YOU GOT THE WRONG GUY, BUT I WOULD LIKE A HELMET, COAT, AND BOOTS SO I CAN ATTEND FIRES WITH THEM AND REALLY GET TO KNOW THEM.’ – AND SO THAT’S HOW I GOT THE JACKET. … I GUESS IT’S BECAUSE OF MY NATURE. I HAD TO BE INVOLVED AND I THOUGHT I COULDN’T DO JUST ANYTHING BY SITTING AT A DESK. I ALSO WANTED TO BE ABLE TO VISIT THE FIRE HALLS AND TO BE ABLE TO DO RIDE-ALONGS WITH THEM, SO THAT LED TO THIS.” PRIOR TO HABKIRK SERVING AS CHAPLAIN, HE RECALLED THAT MAJOR RONNY BUTCHER, ALSO A SALVATION ARMY OFFICER, HELD THE POSITION. HABKIRK TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN HIS ROLE AS CHAPLAIN, SAYING: “TO ME, IT WAS OF TREMENDOUS VALUE FOR MY OWN SELF BECAUSE I WAS WORKING WITH PEOPLE IN NEED; PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN THROUGH SOME MESSY SITUATIONS, DOING VARIOUS THINGS. FOR INSTANCE, I WENT TO TABER AFTER THE SHOOTING OUT THERE AND SAT IN WITH THE FIREFIGHTERS, WITH PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY AND SO I THOUGHT THAT’S WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DOING AS A PASTOR; CARING ABOUT THE PEOPLE - SO THIS WAS A TREMENDOUS VALUE FOR ME.” WHEN QUESTIONED HOW IT WAS THAT HE WENT TO NEW YORK CITY, HABKIRK REPLIED: “THE SALVATION ARMY NATIONAL OFFICE IN TORONTO HAVE RECORDS ON EVERY ONE OF US WHO ARE PASTORS – WHAT WE’VE DONE IN EDUCATION-WISE, OUR SKILLS - AND SO IT SAID THAT I WAS HIRED TO THE CHAPLAINCY OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT; I WAS CRITICALLY INCIDENT TRAINED AND SO THE BOSS FROM ALBERTA SAID, ‘WE NEED TO SEND YOU TO NEW YORK.’ AND THEN THE NATIONAL MAN CALLED ME AND ASKED ME WOULD I GO. AND, IT WAS INTERESTING, HE ALSO SAID, ‘DON’T SAY YES UNTIL YOU CHECK IT WITH YOUR WIFE, ‘CAUSE IT WILL BE SO MESSY, SHE’LL NEED TO HANDLE YOU ALSO.’ AND, SO I SAID ‘YES.’ AND MY WIFE TOOK ABOUT 10 SECONDS TO ANSWER, WITH A ‘YES.’ AND WE WENT FOR 2 WEEKS. I SAID TO THE SALVATION ARMY, ‘IF YOU’RE SENDING ME THERE, PLEASE DON’T SIT ME AT A DESK. PLEASE PUT ME RIGHT WHERE THE ACTION IS WHERE I CAN INTERACT WITH THE MEN.’ AND, SO THIS PARTICULAR JACKET WAS VERY GOOD FOR INTERACTING WITH THE FIREFIGHTERS FROM THE CITY OF NEW YORK. THEY SAW IT. A COMMON QUESTION WAS, ‘WHERE IS LETHBRIDGE?’ AND, SO, I WOULD TELL THEM, ‘AN HOUR NORTH OF THE MONTANA BORDER’ TO KEEP IT SIMPLE AND WE WOULD GO FROM THERE.” HE RECALLED THAT HE WAS IN NYC “FROM THE 27TH OF OCTOBER TO THE 9TH OF NOVEMBER. I THINK THAT’S THE 2 WEEK PERIOD – MIGHT BE OUT A DAY OR TWO.” HE EXPLAINED THAT WHILE HIS WIFE DID NOT ACCOMPANY HIM, SHE WAS A TREMENDOUS SOURCE OF SUPPORT: “SHE HAD TO LISTEN TO ME ON THE PHONE EVERY NIGHT. A COUPLE OF NIGHTS I PHONED AND I WAS CRYING ‘CAUSE NOVEMBER THE 2ND, FOR INSTANCE, THEY CAME AND THEY ASKED ME IF I WOULD COME DOWN THE HALL – AND BY THE HALL I MEAN A LARGE HALL ABOUT 6 FLOOR LEVELS BELOW GROUND. AND I WENT WITH THEM AND WHEN THEY WOULD FIND BODIES THEY WOULD FIND A CLERGY TO COME AND TO DO A COMMITTAL. AND I WENT DOWN THERE AND THERE WAS SIX BAGS OF BODY PARTS AND THERE ISN’T ANYTHING THAT PREPARES YOU TO HANDLE THAT, BUT YOU DO IT.” IN RECALLING HIS EXPERIENCE AT GROUND ZERO, HABKIRK SAID: “I WAS NERVOUS – AND WHEN I GOT TO THE SITE AND SAW THE MESS I BECAME REALLY NERVOUS BUT THEN WHEN WE GOT OUT OF THE SITE, I WORKED AT A SALVATION ARMY LARGE TENT. WE HAD A LARGE COOLER, PROBABLY IT WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF THIS TABLE, AND WE KEPT IT FULL OF ALL KINDS OF BEVERAGES – COLD WATER, GATORADES, ALL KINDS OF POP - AND I WAS PASSING THAT OUT TO THE MEN ALL DAY. SO I WOULD INTERACT THROUGH A SIMPLE DRINK OF WATER. OUR LOCATION WAS ALSO ACROSS THE ROAD FROM AN AMBULANCE LOCATION AND WHEN YOU WOULD SEE AN AMBULANCE GO OUT YOU KNEW THAT THEY WERE GOING FOR A DEAD BODY, AND SO, OFTEN THE MEN WOULD COME OVER AFTER AND I GOT INTERACTING VERY QUICKLY WITH THEM. AND, A LONG TIME AGO, SOMEBODY TOLD ME WHEN I SAID I WAS WORRIED ABOUT WHAT TO SAY, HE SAID, ‘IT’LL BE YOUR MINISTRY AND PRESENCE THAT WILL BREAK YOU IN’ - SO THAT’S WHAT WE DID.” HE RECALLED THAT THOSE WHO VISITED THE TENT WERE THERE FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS: “SOME ARE LOOKING FOR SPIRITUAL SUPPORT. SOME ASKED FOR A PRAYER AND OTHERS JUST SAID, ‘OH HEY, CAN YOU GIVE ME SOMETHING COLD?’ AND THEN THEY’D BE ON THEIR WAY. THEN THEY WOULD SAY, AGAIN, ‘WHERE DO YOU LIVE? I’D TELL THEM AND WE’D LAUGH A LITTLE BIT. … PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST PRACTICAL THINGS THAT I DID DOWN THERE WAS ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON, A FIREFIGHTER CAME TO THE SITE, DEAD-TIRED, AND HIS BOOTS WERE ALL RIPPED AND HE SAID, ‘I UNDERSTAND YOU’VE GOT A SHIPMENT OF NEW BOOTS.’ AND I SAID, ‘YES, SIT DOWN.’ AND SO HE GOT DOWN. AND ONE OF THE PRACTICAL THINGS THAT I - CAN’T REMEMBER DOING ANYTHING AS PRACTICAL AS THAT WAS - WE HAD TO PULL HIS BOOTS OFF ‘CAUSE HE WAS SO TIRED. THE BOOTS WERE MUDDY, WE GOT ALL MUDDY, BUT WE GAVE HIM THE NEW BOOTS, GAVE HIM SOME WATER. WE ALWAYS HAD FRESH MUFFINS AND THEN WE SAT DOWN AND WE’D GO FROM THERE.” HE RECALLED BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MEMORIES FROM HIS TIME IN NYC: “WELL, ONE NIGHT IN NEW YORK, OR ONE MORNING IN NEW YORK, TWO FIREFIGHTERS CAME AND THEY SAID, YOU KNOW THE USUAL, ‘WHERE ARE YOU FROM?’ I SAID, ‘LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA.’ AND THEY SAID, ‘DO YOU LIKE THE STUPID GAME OF HOCKEY?’ AND I REPLIED, ‘YES.’ AND THEY SAID, ‘WELL MAYBE WE CAN DO SOMETHING FOR YOU.’ THEY CAME BACK TWO HOURS LATER AND GAVE ME A LITTLE BROWN ENVELOPE AND IN IT WERE SIX TICKETS FOR THE NEW YORK RANGERS/FLORIDA PANTHERS GAME THAT NIGHT AND SO THAT WAS VERY THERAPEUTIC TO DO THAT. AFTER I’D BEEN DOWN IN THE HOLE AND DONE THE COMMITTAL, THE SALVATION ARMY TEAM THAT I WAS ON MADE SURE THAT I WAS TAKEN CARE OF. ONE NIGHT WE WENT OUT TO CHINATOWN FOR SOME CHINESE FOOD; WE WENT TO TIMES SQUARE - JUST SAT THERE WITH A COFFEE AND LOOKED AT THE LIGHTS - AND THEN WE WENT TO CENTRAL PARK. AND AT CENTRAL PARK WE DISCOVERED THE NEXT DAY WAS THE NEW YORK MARATHON AND SO US THREE FAT BOYS RAN THAT LAST QUARTER MILE OF THE NEW YORK MARATHON, SO WE COULD SAY WE CROSSED THE FINISH LINE AT THE NEW YORK MARATHON. AND YOU’D LAUGH OVER THAT KIND OF THING. I’LL NEVER FORGET THE PARAMEDIC WHO WAS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM US COMING AND HE WAS IN TEARS AND THEN HE SAID- I SAID, ‘WHERE WERE YOU?’ AND HE SAID, ‘WE HAD TO SHOVEL THE REMAINS INTO A BAG.’ THERE’S NO SCHOOL THAT TEACHES YOU WHAT TO DO WITH THAT. YOU HUG EACH OTHER. I WOULD BE MUDDY EVERY DAY BUT I’D ASKED THE SALVATION ARMY TO PUT ME WHERE THE ACTION IS, SO THEY DID. … THE HOTEL THAT WE STAYED IN WAS A LOVELY TWO-STAR HOTEL BUT THE SHOWERS WORKED, THE BEDS WERE COMFORTABLE - WHAT MORE DID WE NEED? THIS [JACKET] HAS GOT BOTH LAYERS IN IT. BEING ON THE SITE IN NEW YORK, YOU HAD TO DRESS IN LAYERS, BECAUSE THE SUN WOULD COME OUT AND WITH ALL THE HIGH BUILDINGS IT WOULD BE PRETTY COLD, AND SO YOU’D HAVE BOTH LAYERS ON AND THEN YOU WOULD TAKE ONE OFF. AND THEN FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS IN THE AFTERNOON YOU’D HAVE THE JACKET OFF. THE WEATHER WAS QUITE SOMETHING.” HABKIRK DESCRIBED HOW HE CAME INTO POSSESSION OF THE TWO FDNY PATCHES ON HIS JACKET. FOR THE RIGHT BREAST POCKET, HE SAID: “IT WAS GIVEN TO ME - I THINK THERE WAS FOUR FIREFIGHTERS WHO WERE IN THE LOCATION RIGHT NEXT TO US. THEY SAID, ‘WE UNDERSTAND YOU’RE GOING HOME TOMORROW OR TODAY’S YOUR LAST DAY.’ THEY SAID, ‘WE DIDN’T KNOW, BUT WOULD YOU TAKE THIS CREST FROM US? AND JUST, WOULD YOU WEAR IT AS JUST A SMALL THING FROM US AND WEAR IT AS YOUR MEMORIES OF ALL OF US WHO WERE HERE, WHO YOU HELPED?’ SO, I DID THIS.” AND THE LEFT BREAST POCKET: “SOME OF THE STAFF FROM STATION NO. B AND 49 CAME AND THEY SAID, ‘WE ALWAYS COME, AND WE ALL SHED A TEAR.’ BECAUSE THEIR PARAMEDIC # 3723 – THEN THEY STOPPED AND THE TEARS CAME, AND THEY SAID, ‘HE’S OVER THERE.’ AND THAT WAS IN THE RUBBLE AND SO THIS WAS JUST A SMALL THING THEY DID TO REMEMBER HIM, AND SO, THAT’S WHY I SEWED IT ON THE JACKET, JUST AS A MEMORY FOR HIM.” HABKIRK RETIRED FROM THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2015. ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD (MAY 21, 2008), HABKIRK RETIRED FROM THE SALVATION ARMY, AFTER 24 YEARS OF SERVICE, IN 2008. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMES FROM A SERIES ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD: OCTOBER 20, 2001 ARTICLE: “HABKIRK, WHO HEADS UP THE LETHBRIDGE SALVATION ARMY, NEVER IMAGINED THE DAY HE WATCHED THE HORROR UNFOLD ON LIVE TV THAT HE WOULD BE ASKED TO SPEND 14 CONSECUTIVE, 12-HOUR DAYS AT THE SITE TO RELIEVE EXHAUSTED SALVATION ARMY VOLUNTEERS. HE WILL LEAVE OCT. 27 AND RETURN NOV. 9. ‘THE SALVATION ARMY HAS BEEN AT GROUND ZERO IN NEW YORK CITY SINCE SEPT. 11 AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THERE ARE BURNED OUT AND NEED REPLACING,’ HE SAYS. ‘THE SALVATION ARMY IN TORONTO HAS ENDEAVOURED TO SUPPORT THEM IN ANY WAY THEY CAN. BECAUSE OF MY EXPERIENCE IN CRITICAL INCIDENT TRAINING, I’VE BEEN ASKED TO GO AND HELP OUT.’” DECEMBER 27, 2002 ARTICLE: HABKIRK RECEIVED A LETTER “FROM GERALD KEARNEY, A FIREFIGHTER WHO WAS HELPING WITH CLEAN-UP AT THE SITE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE. KEARNEY WAS WORKING AT THE SITE DURING HABKIRK’S POST THERE FROM OCT. 27 TO NOV. 9, 2001. … HABKIRK WAS OVERCOME WITH EMOTION WHEN HE GOT THE LETTER. ‘I WAS SITTING AT MY DESK READING IT AND SOME PEOPLE CAME IN AND SAID ‘WHAT’S THE MATTER? … IT MOVES ME QUITE A LOT. IT’S VERY OVERWHELMING AND TOUCHING, FOR JUST DOING WHAT YOU’RE CALLED TO DO.” SEPTEMBER 12, 2003 ARTICLE: “FOR MAJ. GLEN HABKIRK, NO MATTER HOW MANY YEARS PASS, THE TIME HE SPENT AT GROUND ZERO IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE SEPT. 11 ATTACKS WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED … ‘THE PEOPLE PUTTING HUMAN REMAINS IN A BAG, THE FIREFIGHTERS WALKING AWAY, BIG TOUGH MEN CRYING, I WON’T FORGET THAT.” DECEMBER 8, 2004 ARTICLE: “MAJOR GLEN HABKIRK OF THE SALVATION ARMY IS A KEY PART OF THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT … AS THE DEPARTMENT’S CHAPLAIN, HABKIRK’S DUTIES RANGE FROM PROVIDING COFFEE AND SANDWICHES FOR FIREFIGHTERS AT THE SCENE OF A FIRE TO LENDING A SYMPATHETIC EAR IN THE WAKE OF TRAUMATIC INCIDENTS … AND THE FIREFIGHTERS MEAN A LOT TO HABKIRK, WHO ENJOYS BEING PART OF THE CAMARADERIE. HE EVEN HAS HIS OWN NEON YELLOW FIREFIGHTER’S COAT, THOUGH HE ADMITS HE HAS TAKEN SOME RIBBING BECAUSE HIS IS SO CLEAN.” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
- Catalogue Number
- P20150010024
- Acquisition Date
- 2015-02
- Collection
- Museum
Images
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