We especially love a parade when it is being staged to celebrate the arrival of Sayulita’s new ambulance, firetruck, and bombero truck. It has taken several years and a major effort from the non-profit Fire Fighters Crossing Borders as well as our local non-profit Grupo Pro Sayulita to get it done, but it has happened at last: we have our own small fleet of safety vehicles, and a new fire station to house them as well, by the police station on the road into town.
To celebrate this occasion, the town staged a small parade on Sunday March 10. Given that there was a Sunday market in progress as well as a major surfing contest taking place two blocks away, the parade was relatively low-keyed. But the bomberos and other involved citizens had a good time demonstrating various life-saving and rescue techniques as well as carving up an old truck with the so-called “jaws of life”, a sort of giant metal-cutting device used to cut up cars to get at people trapped inside. Plus the kids and the rest of us got to ogle the shiny new firetruck, always a thrill for small boys especially.
Along with Fire Fighters Crossing Borders, these significant safety improvements for our town were made possible by time and money contributed by partners Grupo Pro Sayulita, Bahia Protection Civil Y Bomberos, the Bahia Rotary Club, Firefighters Without Borders, San Javier Hospital, and the Zachary Chambers Foundation, a group formed to honor the memory of Zachary Chambers, a young man who died tragically in the ocean here a couple of years ago. Moved by the outpouring of sympathy and kindness from the people of Sayulita when Zach passed, his family has now repaid that kindness with their help in the effort to get these vehicles down here. We especially appreciate their contribution, and their positive attitude about Sayulita.
Let’s hope the trucks and the ambulance stay in their garage. But now we know they are there should we need them.
