Marino-Commemorative-Coin

Medallion Presentation

Company President Fred Nastasi was presented with a silver commemorative medallion made to honor Hope Fire company’s 100th anniversary by J.S. Marino of Northern Cambria who designed the coin.

The inscription on the medallion reads: HOMETOWN PRIDE and was made in tribute to the fiercely dedicated individuals who donate their time and energy to protect our community.

While it was impossible to have all 60 members on a single coin, those shown on the coin are left to right: Chief Dave Hassen, J.S. Marino, Matthew Barczak, George Zedack, Tony DePetro, Tim DePetro, Albert Legars, Scott Messina, and Dave Wojcik in the drivers seat.

(Volunteer fire companies make up over 70% of all Fire Departments and it is estimated that nationwide, by their own fund raising activities, they save American taxpayers an estimated 35 Billion Dollars a year.)

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History of the J.S. Marino Company

In early 1986 retired Merchant Marine and former businessman, Joe Marino of Barnesboro found himself facing his 68th birthday; bored with retirement, he came up with the idea to produce a precious metal collection as a family heirloom and keepsake.

It was from his life’s experience that he thought of honoring firefighters. As a child of seven his family’s home caught fire. Hew was impressed with by the way the fireman took care to save the family’s possessions, which meant a great deal for a 1920’s coal-mining household.

As a young adult he volunteered for the merchant marines after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His first assignment was to a troop ship that was to ferry soldiers, nurses, and 250 tons of TNT to the Pacific theater. Because of the cargo, the ship was loaded in San Francisco Bay and taken back into the harbor for loading of the personnel.

Just hours after getting on board and before crew assignments we given the fire alarm sounded. A fellow sailor said there was a fire in the engine room. Without instruction, they closed the hatches (known as dog doors) between compartments and then went back up to the deck and started hosing it down to keep it cool. Shortly thereafter the abandon ship horn began to sound.

Because assignments hadn’t yet been given, no one knew what lifeboat they were to use. It was organized chaos as people got into the crafts without a balance of sailors that could operate the boats. Joe was the only person in his lifeboat that had any training as a sailor and was left to just steer the boat and await the Coast Guard.

Bank on the ship, its automatic steam suppression system suffocated the fire and prevented an explosion. If the ammunition on board detonated, it would have killed thousands. It certainly would have caused large enough waves to capsize all of the lifeboats; and damaged the dock; ships moored there and possibly even the Golden Gate Bridge.

Decades later, these two stories remained fresh in his mind; yet it was his wife that gave him the final push to create the firefighter series. While they were watching a national news program that reported on the deaths of two volunteers who had been killed while fighting a fire, Joe said to her, “Those are the real unsung heroes.”

“There’s your medallion.” She replied.

He used the phrase:” American’s Unsung Heroes – The Fireman) as the logo for the one-ounce series. Designs reach back to colonial days and give a unique chronology of fire history.

The big two-ounce series, which started in 1990, was made to highlight fire trucks. Designs showcased the first of a kind, popular or unique vehicles; it also marks three of the saddest tragedies of our time: The Oklahoma City Bombing, The Worcester, Massachusetts Fire, and The Bombing of the World Trade Center. While he didn’t want to make these coins, history dictated that he did.

From 1986 to 1995, Joe took his medallions on the road; He estimates that he visited thousands of fire stations in twenty-five states. His medallions have been sold in every state in the country and to his knowledge his collections are the largest, longest running precious metal collectibles in the country.

He had always wanted to use Hope Fire Company as his last two-ounce medallion because for all of his travels that included to sixty different countries, there’s no place like home.