Rye Firefighter Monument, "The Lady"

Sitting in the heart of Rye, the firefighters memorial sits on Daniel E Balls Circle, named after the long time Hook & Ladder Company member, which is the intersection of Milton Road and Grace Church Street.  In 1931 the City of Rye Fire Department dedicated a statue to its past volunteer firefighters sculpted by Frederick V. Guinzberg, cast by the Gorham company of NY.  The statue depicts a veiled, seated women holding a firefighters helmet.  The memorial symbolizes memory and the palm leaf she holds symbolizes honor.

By 1991 with the elements of weather having taken its toll the statue and the landscape around it was due for a makeover.   The department needed to raise $15,000 to restore the statue and fix the landscape and so a massive fundraising effort was started by the departments four companies, with firefighter Al Lang as the chairman of the eight member committe of the restoration project. To help raise money the fire departments softball team played in charity softball games against The New York Rangers and DJ's from WFAN sports radio.  In addition donations big and small poured in from the community.  The restoration took place in three phases.  The first two phases of the project was to relandscape the traffic circle where the monument sits and add lighting to the flag pole where the US flag flies 24 hours a day.  The projects third phase was to recreate the statues patina, the thin coating on the sculpture.  As many as five solutions were applied to restore the sculptures texture and appearance with a final layer of acrylic lacquer. There is also a time capsule at the monument that will be opened in 2043

Erected in 1931-

Chief R. Fred Langeloh

Restored 1991-1992

Chief George Ballantoni

Al Lang- Chairman

Committee:

John Alfano, Sal Caraccio, Ken Cook, Tim Dempsey,

Peter Donahue, George Graham, Frank Johnson, Dennis Sweeney