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The spray rose over Redd's Pond on Wednesday evening from a machine built when firefighting still depended on muscle, timing and a crew willing to lean into the work together. Members of the Gerry No. 5 Veteran Fireman's Association brought the Gerry No. 5 hand pumper to the pond for a rare public demonstration, giving Marblehead a look at an antique fire engine that normally stays out of sight at the Gerry 5.
According to organizers, it was the first time in eight years that the pumper had been seen in public and the first time in eight years it had been publicly used to spray water.
Photographer Steven "Stevo" Rood captured the evening as the crew worked around the pond's edge: hose stretched across the pavement, hands on the long pump bars, neighbors watching from the grass and water breaking into the air above the houses and trees.
The Gerry No. 5 handtub was built for Marblehead by Hunneman & Co. of Boston and delivered to town on July 1, 1845, according to the Gerry 5 Veteran Fireman's Association. It was named for Marblehead native Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, governor of Massachusetts and the fifth vice president of the United States.
The pumper fought its first fire at Roundy's Mill on Nov. 2, 1845, and was retired from active service in 1890, according to the association. Long after its firefighting days ended, it remained part of the region's handtub muster tradition, in which crews operate antique hand-pumped engines to see who can send a stream of water the farthest.
Rood's photos follow the pumper through the small rituals that make the old machine work: the hose set into place, the checks around the brass fittings, the crew taking positions and the first burst of water at the pond.
Wednesday’s crew included Tom Blacker, Earl Doliber, Harold Hansen, Rick Bartlett, Dan Ellison, Mike Hull, Kevin Conwell, Bill Ward and Ross Goodwin.
The next scheduled public appearance for the pumper is July 18 at the annual Handtub Muster at the Bandstand in West Newbury.
