On Monday, April 14, in honor of Milwaukee Day and its own 150th birthday, Milwaukee Fire Department will temporarily re-designate Engine 14 to Engine 414.
Fire Chief Aaron Lipski and Mayor Cavalier Johnson will join the crew of Station 14 – home to Engine 14 and Truck 8 – at 6074 S. 13th St. on Monday at 10 a.m. to host a temporary renaming ceremony that also marks the two special occasions.
“We are thrilled to participate in 414 Day, a day which brings our community together to celebrate everything that makes Milwaukee
special,” said MFD Fire Chief Aaron Lipski.
“Transforming Engine 14 into Engine 414 is a fun and meaningful way to showcase our connection to the city and its residents. We look forward to being part of the celebration!”
The event will be held outside the station, unless weather forces it indoors.
Station 14 was built in 1978 to house the recommissioned Engine 14. The engine company was joined by Ladder (now Truck) 8 in 1994.
Engine 14 originally occupied the still-standing Sebastian Brand-designed firehouse at 1554 W. Bruce St., built in 1889.
The engine was decommissioned and the firehouse closed in 1965.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
