Oklahoma Firefighter (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 8, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 1, 1985 Page: 4 of 12
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Meet Don Froese, Museum Board President
A Unique Firehouse
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1867 Hand Pumper graces right side of museum entry.
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Reserve squad engine guards left side of museum entry
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Firefighters' wives serve as receptionists and gift shop attendants.
Denver’s Fire House Restaurant: Unique use oj outdated fire station.
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Our congratulations to
Don on his election to Presi-
dent of the Museum Board of
Trustees. We invite you to
say hello to Don next time
you have the opportunity.
Don’s pride and joy is now
their 7 month old grand-
daughter A’ndrea Dawn.
■. "S
5
firefighters by actively par-
ticipating in the Enid Retired
Firefighters Association serv-
ing as President.
No stranger to hard work,
Don served on the OSFA
Educational Advisory Com-
mittee for two terms, was a
member of IFSTA from 1962
to 1977, also a member of
1AFS1 from 1968 to 1977,
1
1
Don Froese's cousin Eldon 'Butch ‘ Buller, Assistant Chief, Denver Fire Department.
PAGE 4 - OKLAHOMA FIREFIGHTER
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‘Butch’ Buller, an Assistant
Chief with the Denver fire
department, made the most
of their time together treating
Don, (otherwise known as
‘Butch’s Friend), to a tour of
both areas. With approx-
imately 19 years on the
department, Eldon heads up
the training division and
hazardous materials opera-
tions for the city of Denver,
and also uses the knowledge
to speak at meetings like the
recent Fire Department in-
structors Conference. The
Denver fire department’s
haz/mat units are a bright
yellow for high visibility.
They purchased an old
J
1
Don Froese, former OSFA
president, now retired and a
purchasing manager for an
Enid bank, visited the OSFA
office recently while atten-
ding the Firefighters Museum
board meeting. Several pic-
tures of the Denver Fire
Department Muse.m and
Fire House Restaurant com-
bined with an enthusiastic
recital of events from Don’s
visit last May provided incen-
tive for this suggestion.
Perhaps your fire department
is growing and a new station
has taken the place of an
older building less suitable to
today’s department needs,
venver found a highly pro-
fitable means for use of their
Old Number One Fire House
by turning it into a restaurant
using fire paraphenalia for
decorations and catchy fire
Don was highly impressed
with their total operation.
Denver’s Fire House
Restaurant is an extremely
successful venture but
wouldn’t it be nice to have
one a little closer to home.
Anyone interested? Surely we
have an Oklahoma communi
ty looking for a unique way
to raise funds. What better
way than by converting an
old station into a fire house
style restaurant. Oklahomans
are noted for their generosity
so you can be sure they would
relinquish fire inemorabelia
to help create a suitable at-
mosphere. Think about it; it
has possibilities.
KV f saun0T2
same par as our own
museum, they still have an
excellent collection of ap-
paratus and antique fire
memorabelia exhibited. Cer-
tainly well worth taking a
leisurely stroll and enjoying
after your meal. Upon enter-
ing the fire Museum, you arc
greeted by a receptionist who
is a firefighter’s wife wearing
red suspenders seated in front
of a fire alarm system. The
wives alternate duty as recep-
tionist and sales person for
the gift shop. A well-
preserved 1867 hand pumper
sits to the right of the entry
and a white reserve squad
truck is to the left. With the
restaurant on the ground
floor, the museum is housed
on the two floors above.
Knowing Don was there on
business, his cousin Eldon
terms to name menu items.
Their lunch menu con-
sisting of soups, salads, sand-
wiches, dessert and drinks.
Sandwiches, like ‘Hook &
Ladder’ or ‘Steamer’, are
served in a white paper bag
imprinted with the restaurant
logo and squares to mark in-
dicating a choice of three
breads, five additional sand-
wich ingredients, and a
choice of three desserts. The
name of the person is written
below the order and each is
delivered with an American
flag attached to the
toothpick. Waitresses wear
red suspenders and dress fire
house style. The food is ex-
cellent, the price quite
reasonable, and a bonus; the
same building houses the
Denver Firefighters Museum.
Although it is not quite the
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I---------
Greyhound bus, reworked it
for a haz/mat command
post. Eldon trains the
haz/mat teams and
developed their own material
for years, only recently begin-
ning to use materials
developed by IFSTA. Denver
is a progressive town, strong
in its backing of their fire
protection system. The
department has its own
machine shop, woodwork
shop, etc. so they can com-
pletely restore their pumpers,
aerials, etc., every seven
years, keeping all equipment
in top-notch condition while
receiving top value for money
invested in quality apparatus.
was vice chairman of the
Oklahoma State Fire Com-
mission from 1967 to 1977
and has been a member of the
Museum Board since 1972.
Outside activities include
the AMBUCS Civic Club,
Northwest Oklahoma
Pastoral Care and CON-
TACT Board of Directors,
and Cherokee Strip Archery
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1867
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KOUNVERFRLOE
Don Froese is not a a m
stranger to most of you, hav- A Ba
ing served on the OSFA Ex- Ke4,2? A
ecutive Board from 1968 to K.-.
1973 and chairing the 1972 A",
Annual Convention in Ard- add a h
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his m SE
in sbm2
Department and continues •E
his affiliation with the Enid Don Froese
Club. To relax, Don enjoys
being captain of the AM-
BUCS bowling team, deer
hunts and target practices
with his archery equipment.
His wife Donna is also very
active; going through the
chairs of the OSFA Women’s
Auxiliary, serving as their
president in 1968. Their two
children raised, Donna and
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Oklahoma Firefighter (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 8, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 1, 1985, periodical, January 1, 1985; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1941572/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum.