On my commute to work every morning, there is a 50/50 chance that I see the firefighters of Downtown Santa Cruz Fire Station No. 1. Whether the garage doors are rolled up and they have a firetruck pulled out for maintenance with cup of coffee in hand, or the firetrucks are already out of the station for the morning, I always tend to drive past with this overwhelming urge to thank them in some way for protecting and supporting our community.
This feeling was, in part, the inspiration for one of our newest gift items: our “Cookies to the Rescue” Gift Box. (If you’ve yet to see our two new boxes, you can check them out by going to the homepage of our website which features both the “Cookies to the Rescue” Gift Box and “The Flight of the Butterflies Cookie Gift Box”).
Cookies to the Rescue Gift Box
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Flight of the Butterflies Cookie Gift Box
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Sitting at work one afternoon I decided – wouldn’t it be fun to showcase the release of the “Cookies to the Rescue” Gift Box with a little background on the Firefighters of Station No. 1? What a great way to connect the community – through cookies! Well, let me tell you. It wasn’t quite as easy as I thought to get a hold of these guys! Every afternoon for a week during my lunch break I tried to drop off a dozen cookies, but they were either out and about, or the doors were down. My thinking then was, well – I’ll drop them off in the morning since they always seem to be there during that time.
So before work one morning, I caught two of them working on the firetruck. After introducing myself and asking if they would be interested in “sampling” a few Pacific Cookie Company cookies, I told them I would stop by again the next morning with a few other flavors – to which they were more then appreciative, and excited. But alas, they were already off for the morning when I got there the next day. Just as I was about to give up and head to work, the Station Chief pulled up – and was very supportive of my idea. So I dropped the second dozen of cookies off with him, and awaited a phone call for the “meet-and-greet” time/place.
When I received that call from Ryan, I was so excited that they would be coming to our wholesale location to try some cookies! Later that morning, they stopped by and introduced themselves and I got to chit-chat a bit with some of the guys. What a great group of people! There was this constant sense of lightheartedness and brotherhood amongst them that was simply contagious. And there nicknames were memorable as well. So you’re wondering, which cookies are their favorites? Snickerdoodle was the winner by far!
Left to Right: Ryan (aka T. Man), Robert the Governor, David, FF Landievar, "Tiny", Josh, Marc the Moneymaker
Grant (Deputy Fire Marshall) – Snickerdoodle
Firefighter Landievar – Snickerdoodle
David Graff – Ginger Spice
Ryan (I nicknamed him T-man, because he prefers to drink tea…a man after my own English heart) – couldn’t make up his mind, then decided he liked Mint Condition
“Tiny” (Barbecue Master) – Snickerdoodle
Josh – Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Chip
Robert, the Governor – Cahootz!
Marc the Moneymaker – Snickerdoodle and Mint Condition
With over 74,000 calls per year between three stations in Santa Cruz County, this group of men are part of the county’s busiest fire department. I was very impressed by the variety of activities each of these individuals partook in outside of their firefighting careers: Hazmat Techs, Paramedics, Rescue Swimmers, and a Best Buddy Bike Club member. Oh, and I was also told that Marc the Moneymaker is such an avid Sharks hockey fan, that they have a “Sharks Dedication Day” for him every season *laughs* Now whether this is true or not – that’s hard to say. But one thing is certain, they all loved our cookies, and couldn’t wait until the NEXT time we invited them to taste a few more! :)
Thanks for the visit SCFD! You are forever welcome at Pacific Cookie Company – stay safe, and we’ll see you ’round.
