We often get some questions on our community events trailer (Wee MacGregor)
Why did our tax dollars go to this?
All
funding for our community events trailer "Wee MacGregor" was fundraised entirely from business sponsorship and by our own members and other volunteers outside our society (on their own time) at said fundraisers. It is owned by our society.
How did you come up with the idea?
At the IAFF memorial, CalFire has a trailer they use to transport band and honour guard equipment and use the trailer as a staging area.
Our trailer utilizes the same idea, and it also serves up to 4 members for sleeping accomodations on rare occasions. It's main use has been for equipment transport, a changing area at events that have no privacy for all honour guard and band members. Of course we use it for fundraisers.
Why does it look like a fire truck?
We are are firefighters, we like our iron horses. It represents who we are and the profession we represent. The other graphics fulfill the same representation including our city and department history. We will be updating some graphics soon.
-Our personal vehicles
-EFRS light vehicles
-Rentals
To have a dedicated EFF P&D owned tow vehicle attached is way to expensive for our society.
Why is it named Wee MacGregor?
Simply put, to stick with fire service tradition. Wee MacGregor was the name of our fire departments Mascott dog (Boston Terrier) in the early 1900s.
Where do you store it and why?
We have been granted permission by Edmonton Fire Rescue Services to store it in a fire hall. We store it inside in order to preserve the trailer and the hard work the members put in fundraising for it. If stored outside in our Alberta weather, the graphic wrap will fade and crack (which is not cheap to replace) we also get extended warranty on the wrap by keeping it out of the elements, the trailer itself will also sustain a shortened life.There is also an inherent increase in maintenance if stored outside vs a controlled climate.
We put a lot of time and effort into acquiring and designing this unit and do not want to and cannot afford to replace it anytime soon. With the current method of keeping it inside we can keep it ready to go in a moments notice. We also save on insurance costs.
We want to thank those crews who take care and watch over it while being stored at our our fire stations. While on the road, it represents our membership, fire service, and city . It also has a special graphic that honours our members who have died in the line of duty.
Can you guess where the picture was taken? Hint: It was in a US state at a tourist attraction during a quick break on the road trip the the IAFF memorial in Colorado Springs.