No more oranges for Oakley

December 12, 2003

For more years than anyone can seem to remember, the Oakley Fire Department has been out delivering oranges to its residents. This year that tradition and some others concerning the department have come to an end.

At Monday's Oakley City Council meeting, East Contra Costa Fire District Chief Doug Dawson officially informed the council that the district wouldn't be making its run this year. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did.

For those who are new to the area and haven't experienced the tradition, it goes like this: The fire department spends the Saturday before Christmas driving their fire trucks through each neighborhood with a Santa on the back and handing out oranges and Jelly Belly jellybeans to all the kids and even some adults who come out and meet them in the street. Over the years members of the volunteer department would drive down to the Fresno area and pick the oranges off the trees to save on the expense of the oranges. The jellybeans or candy canes were usually donated to the organization.

As far as I was to understand, the group raised money for the oranges by holding a raffle for a television. Residents would get tickets on their doorstep or in the mail and were asked to send them back for a chance to win. They may have raised funds in other fashion as well over the years.

Several fire trucks were used so that the department could make it to all the neighborhoods within one day. I am sure that since Oakley has grown it has become quite a chore. I say that people shouldn't be surprised because rumors of stopping the orange run have been going around long before Oakley merged with the other East County fire departments, but it seems that people are more sensitive about the issue now. Part of the reason why is because it seems that the fire district has been moving away from providing volunteer services for the community in the past year or so.

For example, for the past 15 years the Oakley Chamber has hosted its annual Christmas Tree Lighting at O'Hara Park, and until this year the fire department has always deposited Santa at the park with lights and sirens. The people have always loved the idea. Signals were crossed this year and it was hard getting in touch with the people who could make the decision on whether Santa would be able to come at all. The event was held last Saturday and the fire department didn't call until the Monday after. In the end, the Oakley Police Department was good enough to bring Santa to the park this year.

At the Oakley Almond Festival, the festival's mascot Ben Toasted has made his entrance on the fire truck during most of the Almond Parades since the festival began in 1990. This year the committee was informed that Ben couldn't ride on the truck because of insurance liability reasons. The committee understood, but it is just another sign of the times.

The question from the citizens of Oakley seems to be how far does this extend to the service the community is receiving from the fire district. People have talked about making visits to the fire offices in Oakley and ringing the bell to no answer. That happened in the past when there was a volunteer fire department, but it seems that now that Oakley has consolidated with these other districts that someone should be attending the fire house. Don't they attend the fire houses in the other cities?

The other wonder is how far will this pulling back from the community go? The firefighters used to come out to the preschools and elementary schools to talk to children about fire safety. Will that stop as well? The community understands that money is tight in all government agencies. Many have said that if the issue is cost of the oranges they would gladly donate the funds if need be.

The orange run is something that makes Oakley unique to the other communities in the area. It has been written up in newspapers throughout the Bay Area. It is something Oakley not only enjoys, but it also very proud of. It is part of the old time fun of the holidays and it helps us to remember what a small community we are. If there is any way the district will reconsider, the residents hope they do. The people on my block will sorely miss the sound of the sirens and the cheers from the youngsters throughout our community.

Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.

Distributed by the Contra Costa Times

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