Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

LETHBRIDGE FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES HONOUR GUARD UNIFORM

Date

2004

Materials

COTTON, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

5

Length

76.5

Width

49.3

Description

A. JACKET. L: 76.5CM W:49.3 DARK BLUE JACKET WITH SEVEN SILVER BUTTONS DOWN FRONT WITH THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE SERVICE CREST. TWO BREAST POCKETS WITH ONE SMALLER SILVER BUTTON WITH LFS CREST ON EACH POCKET. WHITE BRAIDED ROPE PINNED WITH SAFETY PIN TO INSIDE OF LEFT POCKET WRAPPING AROUND LEFT SHOULDER. COLLOR IS BLACK FABRIC WITH THE TOP AND BOTTOM LINED WITH RED STITCHING. ONE “FIRE DEPT” CREST PINS TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT OF MIDDLE. BLACK VELCRO INSIDE FRONT OF COLLAR AND BOTTOM WAIST. TWO RECTANGULAR SILVER MEDALLIONS STITCHED TO SLEEVE OF LEFT ARM. RED STITCHING AROUND MID-FOREARM OF EACH ARM. BLACK PATCH WITH RED LETTERING ON BOTH SHOULDERS “LETHBRIDGE FIRE HONOUR GUARD.” BLACK EPAULETTES WITH RED STITCHING ON EACH SHOULDER WITH SILVER PIN OF TWO AXES CROSSED MAKING AN “X.” SMALL SILVER BUTTON WITH CREST ON EACH. INSIDE RIGHT SIDE OF JACKET WRITTEN IN BLUE PEN ON WHITE PLASTIC IS “47258 D. TERRY MAY/04 DRESS UNIFORM LETHBRIDGE FIRE DRY CLEAN ONLY.” BACK HAS SIMPLE BLACK STITCHING WITH A GOLD CLIP ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES. B. PANTS - L:125.5CM W:41.7CM DARK BLUE PANTS WITH RED RIBBON STITCHED DOWN BOTH SIDE SEAMS. FIVE BUTTONS ARRANGED AS AN “M” ON THE BACK OF PANTS. ORANGE PAPER TAG INSIDE PANTS “2/996” OR “2/669.” WHITE PLASTIC PATCH SEWN INSIDE WAIST “47258 D. TERRY MAY/04 W41 L33 DRESS UNIFORM LETHBRIDGE FIRE DRY CLEAN ONLY.” NO NOTICEABLE STAINING. C: HAT - H:12.5CM L:28.3CM W:25.5CM CAPTAIN’S HAT HAS WHITE FABRIC TOP WITH BLACK PLASTIC BRIM. MINIMAL OFF WHITE STAINING ON TOP. UNDERSIDE OF FABRIC TOP HAS PIN “LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPT.” BETWEEN BRIM AND TOP IS BLACK FABRIC WITH EMBROIDERED BLACK MAPLE LEAVES AND A THIN BLACK PLASTIC BELT THAT GOES HALFWAY AROUND WIDTH WITH GOLD MAPLE LEAF BUTTONS ON EITHER ENDS. SLIGHT CUSHIONING INSIDE HAT WITH CLEAR PLASTIC DIAMOND STITCHED. BLAST ELASTIC CIRCLES INSIDE OF HAT. TYPED ON TAG INSIDE HAT “TEAMSTERS QUEBEC LOCAL 19999 ETIQUETTE SYNDICALE UNION LABEL CANADA 57CM 7 1/8.” D: BELT - L: 108CM W: 5.7CM WHITE LEATHER BELT WITH WHITE STITCHING, SILVER FASTENERS ON EITHER END. SILVER BELT BUCK WITH LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT COAT OF ARMS READING “FIRE DEPARTMENT SERVICE D’INCENDIE” LEATHER IS WORN WITH OFF WHITE EDGES AND SCUFF MARKS. E: GLOVES - L:22CM W:12.4CM PAIR OF WHITE FABRIC GLOVES. SILVER BUTTONS INSIDE WRIST OF BOTH.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

SAFETY SERVICES

History

ON AUGUST 6, 2021, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED DANA TERRY REGARDING HIS DONATION OF A LETHBRIDGE FIRE AND EMERGENCY HONOUR GUARD UNIFORM. DANA BEGAN WORKING WITH THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE SERVICES IN 1997 AND AS AN HONOUR GUARD IN 2002. REGARDING HOW THE HONOUR GUARD WAS FOUNDED LOCALLY IN LETHBRIDGE, DANA STATES: “IT SEEMS TO ME THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION THAT THERE WAS… A FUNERAL THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE AND NOBODY REALLY KNEW THE NUANCES OF HOW TO OPERATE FUNERAL… SHOWING RESPECT AND TRADITION AND PROTOCOL… I DON’T REMEMBER WHAT FUNERAL THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BUT IT KIND OF CAUGHT PEOPLE OF GUARD AND SO I BELIEVE MIKE ROSS WHO WAS A FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF WITH US… HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ON THE HONOUR GUARD AS WELL AS ERIC PATCHING…[WHO] HAD SOME BACKGROUND WITH THE RCMP… SO BOTH ERIC’S INPUT INTO THE HONOUR GUARD AS WELL AS MIKE ROSS, [WHO] WAS BRITISH MILITARY SO WE GOT TO LEARN HOW TO MARCH… SO BOTH OF THEM HELPED TO FORMULATE THAT GROUP. IN TERMS OF HIS TIME SERVING, DANA EXPLAINS: “I’M LEAVING THE SERVICE [AND] LEAVING LETHBRIDGE AFTER ALMOST TWENTY-FOUR YEARS WITH THE SERVICE…I HAVE A PASSION FOR HISTORY AND I THOUGHT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU DON’T HAVE IN YOUR COLLECTION AS OF YET AND IT’S THE HONOUR GUARD UNIFORM THAT I WORK FROM … 2002 TO 2010…THERE ARE SO FEW PEOPLE THAT ARE ACTUALLY ON THE HONOUR GUARD AND…THERE’S USUALLY BETWEEN EIGHT AND TWELVE THAT ARE ON THE HONOUR GUARD AT ANY ONE TIME. IN THE PAST IT HAS BEEN LESS SO WHEN I GOT ON I THINK THERE WAS EIGHT OF US THAT WERE ON THE HONOUR GUARD AND NOW I HAVE KIND OF OVERSEEN THE HONOUR GUARD AND SO I’VE UPPED IT TO TWELVE AND SO … WHEN YOU’VE GOT A DEPARTMENT OF 160/150 PEOPLE AND ONLY EIGHT TO TWELVE ARE ON THE HONOUR GUARD IT’S A LIT BIT MORE … UNIQUE.” DANA CONTINUES: “ALL OF OUR STAFF ARE PROVIDED WITH A CLASS “A” UNIFORM AND EVERYBODY HAS ONE, THAT’S THEIR FIRE DEPARTMENT FORMAL WEAR, BUT THE HONOUR GUARD IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE IT’S A VOLUNTEER GROUP FROM WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION THAT THEY VOLUNTEER THEIR TIME TO BE PART OF. MANY OF THE FORMAL CEREMONIES THAT WE HAVE, SO WHETHER IT’S A FUNERAL, WHETHER IT’S A MEMORIAL, [OR] WHETHER IT’S A SPECIAL EVENT, THE HONOUR GUARD ACTUALLY HELPS RUN, AND ORGANIZE SOME OF THOSE. [THEY KNOW]… THE ACTUAL FORMAL WAY OF HOW YOU PROPERLY ADDRESS THE FLAG, HOW DO YOU PROPERLY MARCH, HOW DO YOU PROPERLY RUN DIFFERENT CEREMONIES, AND SO THEY’VE GOT THE KNOWLEDGE BECAUSE THEY TAKE THAT TRAINING. IT’S A VOLUNTEER POSITION; YOU DON’T GET PAID EXTRA [EVEN] IF THEY GO TO A FUNERAL … USUALLY IT’S A DEPARTMENT FUNERAL [OR] SOME OTHER CITY [AND] OUR STAFF, OUR HONOUR GUARD MEMBERS HAVE GONE TO WINNIPEG, CALGARY, EDMONTON, BC YOU KNOW FOR LINE OF DUTY DEATHS AND SO THEY WOULD WEAR THEIR HONOUR GUARD UNIFORM." FURTHER REGARDING THE UNIFORM, DANA EXPLAINS: “…A HONOUR GUARD UNIFORM AS YOU CAN SEE, HAS RED PIPING AND IT HAS SINGLE BREAST POCKET, SINGLE BREAST BUTTON. THIS ONE IS A HIGH COAT, AND IT’S GOT THE WHITE BRAID ON THE LEFT SHOULDER, AND SO THOSE ARE ALL DIFFERENT THINGS THAT THIS UNIFORM HAS THAT THE [CLASS “A”] UNIFORMS DON’T HAVE…THE SHOULDER FLASH THAT IS ON IT JUST SPECIFICALLY SAYS LETHBRIDGE HONOUR GUARD AND SO IT’S THE ONLY ONE PEOPLE IN THE DEPARTMENT [HAS] CROSSED AXES ON THE EPAULETTES. [ALSO] THE RED PIPING IS JUST SPECIFIC TO THE HONOUR GUARD. NO OTHER UNIFORM WITHIN OUR DEPARTMENT HAS RED PIPING…THERE IS A TRADITION OF HAVING THAT BRAID. AND THEN … THERE’S A WHITE BELT WITH THE DEPARTMENT INSIGNIA ON IT, ON THE BUCKLE AS WELL AND NOBODY ELSE HAS THOSE BELTS." WHEN ASKED WHAT MOTIVATED DANA AT THE TIME TO BECOME AN HONOUR GUARD MEMBER, HE RESPONDED: “I’VE ALWAYS LIKED… THAT FORMAL ASPECT OF REMEMBERING… THE SACRIFICES OF MEMBERS AND TO BE PART OF... ORGANIZING THOSE EVENTS, OF HAVING THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO RUN THOSE EVENTS AND YES, IT WAS A WAY FOR ME TO SERVE BECAUSE… I BELIEVE IN PUBLIC SERVICE AND TO ME IT WAS A WAY I COULD GIVE BACK… I DIDN’T GET PAID ANY EXTRA, IN FACT I HAD TO SPEND MY OWN GAS MONEY TO GO TO EVENTS… IT WASN’T A HUGE TIME COMMITMENT BUT IT’S JUST TIME THAT YOU SPEND AWAY…I PROVIDED UNIFORMS AND THE UNIFORMS ARE NOT CHEAP, I THINK THE LAST ONES I PURCHASED WERE TWELVE OR THIRTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS APIECE SO THEY’RE ALL CUSTOM FIT… ONCE I GOT PROMOTED TO DEPUTY CHIEF I HAD TO STEP DOWN BECAUSE IT’S A UNION GROUP… BUT [AS] DEPUTY CHIEF… I GOT TO OVERSEE THE HONOUR GUARD." FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION AND REFERENCE PHOTOS, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20210006000-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20210006000

Acquisition Date

2021-08

Collection

Museum

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