Memorial Ride planned June 10

By Melinda L. Lucas

Albany residents may wonder what’s going on with all the sirens on Saturday morning; it will not be an emergency but rather a tribute to a community servant who worked behind the scenes until she was not physically able to.

A Memorial Ride for Kristi Brooker will be held Saturday, June 10 at 10:00 a.m., with fire trucks and firemen from several counties expected to participate. She died several months ago after a long battle with cancer, continuing her service for much of that time.

Brooker, who served as assistant fire chief for the Shackelford County Rural Fire Department, had been a volunteer for 26 years, taking on a leadership role for much of that time.

Brooker was known as #72 to her co-volunteers, as well as all other local responders, because she always drove the #72 fire truck.

“There was no funeral service for Kristi because her family was respecting her requests,” Albany police chief Mike House said. “But because of her long service to the community, local first responders wanted to do this Memorial Ride and have a ‘last call’ ceremony for her.”

House added that the county fire department will unveil a truck that volunteers have been working on for months, which will be named as a memorial to Brooker.

“Everyone is invited to line the streets for the ‘Memorial Ride’ and then come to the ceremony at the city fire department afterwards,” House said.

The lineup will begin at city property across from Fox Tank on the Breckenridge highway, proceed through town down to the Home of the Hereford sign, and double back to the city fire department on Railroad Street for a brief ‘last call’ service.

House estimates that there will be around 30 trucks in the procession, as Brooker was well-known throughout the Big Country firefighting community.

“We don’t anyone to be alarmed when they hear the sirens,” said House.