Ilion High School - Class of 1965

Herkimer Evening Telegram - July 6, 1965

Ilion Firemen Make Plans For Mamie, The Mascot's, Birthday

Article 10d

Photo Caption - MAMIE THE MASCOT of the Ilion Fire Department shows she has grown as she stands beside the small cargo carrier in which she arrived in Ilion from Hawaii via railway express as a five-weeks-old puppy. Mamie will celebrate her 11th birthday this month and the firemen are planning to present her with a birthday cake. From left, Harry Yardley, Deputy Chief Leo Sweeney, and Frank Luppino.

Ilion Firemen Make Plans For Mamie, The Mascot's, Birthday

By BOB KELDER

ILION - For the first time in many years, firemen at the Central Fire Station here are planning a bit of a birthday celebration for the week after next when Mamie, their dog mascot, observes her 11th birthday.

"We may even have a birthday cake with 11 candles," a spokesman speculated yesterday at the Central Station where Mamie lives in a dog house behind the bulky fire trucks. "Maybe she can't blow out the candles, but she loves cake."

The firemen figure Mamie has a lot to celebrate. She's packed a lot of living into those years, having presented the firemen with 24 pups in three litters.

Mamie, an attractive black and white dalmatian, married and produced her children soon after meeting Tex, a laughingly handsome dalmatian who resided in a house in the Barringer Rd. section of Ilion. Tex died some years ago after being struck by an auto.

Mamie was just a five-week old pup when she arrived in Ilion via railway express on Aug. 28, 1954, recalled Deputy Fire Chief Leo Sweeney yesterday. She was sent from Hawaii.

"When we first got her, we had to lift her up onto the rig," Sweeney said. But soon Mamie was jumping on herself whenever the fire bell rang.

As a rule, she leaps onto No. 1, the huge fire pumper that is the first to roar out of the station. Once in a while she falls off.

"When that happens she's awfully embarrassed," explained Sweeney. "Rather than jump back on, she usually slinks in to her doghouse to hide her humiliation."

When all is going well however, Mamie is a poseur and a ham. She seems to know she has sped to about 1,500 fires over her 11 years. She proudly rides the fire equipment in all the parades, glorying in the adulation of children.

Adults are just as impressed by Mamie, and seldom does a day go by when she doesn't get a handout, ranging from dog biscuits to ice cream. Her favorite is ice cream on a stick, firemen said.

Besides chasing fires, Mamie makes a point of accompanying Fire Chief Richard Wright to other functions. Such as building inspections, including schools where the children treat her like a queen.

In spite of being a trifle spoiled from being everybody's pet, Mamie is thoroughly trained, Sweeney said. "She won't go upstairs to the firemen's rooms over the station. That's because she's been told to stay downstairs so she won’t get underfoot if we get a call."

However, the firemen are thinking of putting that rule aside on her birthday, if one of their members can bake a birthday cake.