Even the cows can bank on rescue unit

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The Beach Strip
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The Spectator, Monday, June 22, 1970
"Those cows got stranded so we had to send out two boats to rescue them."
"You sent out boats to rescue cows?"
"Well, cows have to be milked two times a day, you know. So, we had to get them out of there and we did it."
Don Young was referring to an incident in 1960 when a field flooded in Woodburn. The cows fled to a knoll and Don and his Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit were called to save the stranded animals.
Don heads the unit, located at 316 Beach Boulevard. It's an old, grey, morbid-looking clubhouse. On the front lawn is a large ship's anchor. At the back is a mundane, rectangular grey-brick storage house. The atmosphere is particularly uninviting and you don't feel at all safe. In fact, you might wish somebody would rescue you.
Actually you probably couldn't find a safer place if yon tried. For the rescue unit not only chases cows, but also saves human lives. The unit's 33 volunteers have safeguarded Hamilton Beach for 28 years.
In 1969, there were 36 emergency calls along the beach strip, there were no fatalities. The clean record for 1969 is testimony to the rescue unit's outstanding performance for 28 years.
It all started in 1942.
After many accidents in and around the beach area, the Burlington Volunteer Fire Department borrowed a dinghy. Twenty-seven firefighters agreed to take on the added chore of a beach rescue team. With the small vessel on a firetruck, up and down the strip they travelled answering danger calls.
At that time, the beach was sparsely populated so one boat was sufficient for most occasions.
In 1952, another boat was added to the unit and the double role of being beach rescuers and firefighters continued until 1958.
In that year, the fire squad ceased to function as a separate entity because the area was put under Hamilton's jurisdiction.
With the firefighting duties gone, the unit, still numbering 27, became solely a beach rescue team. They combined their resources and purchased a small clubhouse at 316 Beach Boulevard.
The Hamilton beach committee agreed to provide $100 a month and this went towards maintaining an old fire truck and two dinghies.
"The equipment was inadequate, but we made the best of it", says Don.
A siren, linked to the Hamilton police department was installed outside their clubhouse. When the siren rings it's only minutes before the truck, carrying the rescue boat is on its way. A requirement for membership in the unit is that every member live within hearing distance of the siren.
In 1963, the unit began regular weekend patrols along the beach. That same year, came a big change.
Impressed with the team's work and anxious to see more, the city introduced an annual grant of $4,000. Now the unit could become properly equipped.
Two 100 horsepower motor boats were purchased. Two lifts for the boats were set up on the beach, only two blocks from the clubhouse.
With the motorboats, the team could travel further. "For one call, we went as far as Carlisle, which is 20 miles from here", recalls Don.
Clair Dean, a hardware and variety store owner and deputy chief of the unit, remembers receiving a call and taking the boat out miles one night only to find a refrigerator. "Somebody obviously mistook the fridge for something else", says Clair. "But it was a hazard out there so we brought it back in."
Since 1963, the group has expanded to 33 members, a jeep has been purchased and there have been additions to the clubhouse.

Last October, the shack where the motorboats were stored caught fire. One of the boats was ruined and the storage area gutted. The setback was quickly overcome.
Within four months, the men had built a storehouse at the back of the clubhouse. The cost: a mere $3,500.
The lost boat was replaced with a 165 horsepower inboard-outboard motorboat.
And so today, the organization has 33 men, three fully equipped motorboats, plus the two dinghies, three lifts, two sirens, an expanded clubhouse, and a new storage house.
Within three minutes of the siren sounding, says Don Young, the men are at the boats.
There are two men to each boat and two boats answer each call.
Clair Dean finds it tough to answer a call. "I live just two blocks away," he says, "but by the time I get to the clubhouse the boats are usually well on their way."
The unit is on call 365 days a year 24 hours a day. The men are in constant touch with the Hamilton Harbor Police.
At last year's Labatt International Swim, 31 of the 33 members on the volunteer rescue squad were on duty.
Who are these 33 volunteers?
"They're men of all ages, sizes types and trades," answers Don. "They're dedicted. They don't get a penny for their services."
The youngest is 22. The oldest, 60.
Beach patrolling becomes a big spare time effort, says one of the members.
Bricklayers, electricians, mechanics, firemen, engineers, steelworkers, store-owners are just a sample of the occupations of the men.
"We hare everything except a musician and a barber" says Don, "and those are the next two on our list for volunteers.
St. John Ambulance Brigade and Red Cross training is necessity for the members, among whom there are five trained scuba divers.
An instruction course in all facets of rescue operations is given on Monday nights.
The men are on call at all hours during the week and have scheduled hours for weekend patrols.
The structure is democratic. The chief, deputy chief, two deputies and a treasurer form the executive. Major decisions are voted upon by all members.
Some of the men are 20-year veterans ef the squad. What's in it for them? Why do they do it? The questions were put to Don Young.
'Well, it certainly isn't money. It costs you money to be a member. You don't earn a cent." (In fact, the men have to pay for their uniforms.)
"But it's the self-satisfaction of getting people out of danger that keeps these men going. It's a great feeling, you know, when you revive an almost-dead person through resuscitation."
Perhaps another satisfying feature for the volunteers is the social life at the club.
The clubhouse has a banquet hall and lounges and has a liquor licence. Members and their wives use the facilities at their bidding and as one member puts it, "It's a really nice place to relax and enjoy a few beers".

Spec Photo- The Rescue Unit's new building and boat(Chief Don Young).
 
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