Festa Coloniale Italiana 2015

Festa Coloniale Italiana 2015 - Join us August 15, 2015!

GOTC has been invited by the California Law Enforcement Columbia Association to participate in this year's Festa Coloniale Italiana at the Italian Athletic Club in San Francisco's beautiful North Beach!

GOTC is hosting a table at the Italian Athletic Club where we'll be sharing true tales from the City's notorious Barbary Coast! Instead of the typical stories you always hear about this rough and rowdy area, we'll be focusing on "Law and Order in the Barbary Coast" and will introduce you to members of the SF Police Department, SF Sheriff's Department, and the SF Fire Department who were just as wildly interesting as the criminals they were trying to control!

If you don't yet know anything about the Barbary Coast, we'll fill you in!

We will also have information on hand about the GOTC project, including how to join us, as well as fantastic merchandise for sale to help support GOTC.

This fun event is FREE to the public!

Who: Guardians of the City table, "Law and Order in the Barbary Coast"
What: Festa Coloniale Italiana, celebrating Italian heritage
When: Saturday, August 15, 2015- 9:30 am - 6:30 pm
Where: SF Italian Athletic Club, 1630 Stockton Street, San Francisco 94133

Hope to see you there!

Hello!

Hello! Haven't posted on this blog in a long time but looking forward to getting it up and running again! Stay tuned! In the meantime, find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/GOTCSF

Joe DiMaggio's 95th Birthday Celebration

Joe DiMaggio’s 95th Birthday - November 25, 2009

Joe DiMaggio, one of baseball’s legends and a San Francisco favorite, would have been 95 years old this year.  Francis “Lefty” O’Doul, a San Francisco native, baseball legend, and friend of DiMaggio’s, started his own restaurant here in 1958—so it was only appropriate that Lefty O’Doul’s commemorate DiMaggio’s birthday in true San Francisco style!

Lefty O’Doul’s invited GOTC to join the celebration by bringing out a couple of historic SF Fire Department vehicles: a 1942 Chevy Coffee Unit No. 1 and a 1956 Seagrave Tank Wagon. Members of the GOTC, including Paul Barry, Mike Braun, and Jamie O'Keefe, were on hand to answer questions about the vehicles and to share information about the SFFD Museum, where other interesting vehicles are stored.

Jack LaLanne's 95th Birthday Celebration

Jack LaLanne’s 95th Birthday Celebration- October 7, 2009

Jack LaLanne, fitness icon, was born in San Francisco in 1914. He is well known for amazing feats of strength, like swimming from Alcatraz while handcuffed and doing over 1,000 pushups in 23 minutes. He also hosted one of the fitness shows on television, encouraging viewers to exercise at home, following his lead. Many people in the Bay Area remember Jack’s television show while others know him from his electric juicer infomercials.

Since Jack is considered a San Francisco legend, members of GOTC were delighted to help celebrate his 95th birthday. SFPD Inspectors Liane Corrales and Darlene Alaya donned turn of the century police uniforms, while museum consultant Jamie O’Keefe dressed as a Victorian lady, to bring a historic touch to the occasion. Firefighter Paul Barry brought the 1956 Seagrave Tank Wagon  so Jack and his wife Elaine could ride through the City in style.

Sunset Parkside History Day

Sunset Parkside History Day- November 7, 2009

Sponsored by the Sunset Lions Club and in partnership with Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, the Sunset Parkside History Day benefited the Ortega and Parkside Library Campaigns.

Guardians of The City (GOTC) was invited to participate in the Sunset Parkside History Day event held on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at Dianne Feinstein Elementary School in the Sunset. Firefighter Paul Barry brought out the 1960 American LaFrance Turbo Chief, always a favorite as San Francisco's only “jet-powered” fire engine. The beautifully-restored 1931 Lincoln Phaeton of the San Francisco Police Department also made an appearance, to the delight of visitors.

The Broderick-Terry Duel Reenactment

The Broderick-Terry Duel- 150th Anniversary Commemoration- September 13, 2009

The duel between David Broderick and David Terry, the last recorded duel of its kind in San Francisco history, took place on September 13, 1859.  On this day, State Senator Broderick and State Supreme Court Justice Terry dueled, with pistols, near Lake Merced. The duel played an important part in United States history and much has been written about its consequences.  You can read more about it here.

The History Guild of Daly City/Colma commemorated the 150th anniversary of this historic event by hosting a reenactment of the duel at the same spot it had occurred 150 years prior.

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog of the Guardians of the City (GOTC) Museum and Memorial!

Who are we? We are a non-profit organization made up of folks dedicated to preserving and sharing the history and heritage of San Francisco's Fire, Police, Sheriff's, and EMS Departments.

What does this mean? Well, we are working towards creating a new collaborative museum featuring the histories of these departments as important parts of the history of San Francisco itself. Despite the long and rich histories of all of these departments, right now only the SFFD has a museum. (Though the SFFD Museum is wonderful, its current space is too small for its needs.)

Our goal is to create a new museum to house the artifact collections of the departments, feature rotating exhibitions, provide research and educational space for community members of all ages, and become a valuable addition to the City. The new Museum would also feature a Memorial to honor those who gave their lives in the line of duty.

GOTC is still in the planning stages. We are currently looking for a suitable place for the new Museum. In the meantime, our members are participating in historic events in San Francisco, as well as all over California, to spread the word and to promote preserving our rich heritage and history.

If you would like to donate funds, artifacts, expertise, or time to GOTC, we would appreciate your support! To help make this dream a reality, please contact us.

We'll use this blog to share updates and to show you what we've been up to. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions! Be sure to check out GOTC's website at www.guardiansofthecity.org for some more information.