Mayor Gavin Newsom places a wreath on Lotta's
Fountain at the daybreak 102nd anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake
and Fire in San Francisco. About 350 people attended the commemoration. Newsom stressesearthquake
preparedness. The anniversary comes just days after new scientific
data was released that suggests a major earthquake is a certainty in California
in the next 30 years. Fire Chief Joanne Hayes White offers welcoming remarks
to the crowd at 20th and Church Streets, where the fireplug
that saved Liberty Street and others is symbolically spray painted with
a fresh coat of gold in honor of firefighters, survivors, victims, and
others remembered on the occasion. Mister SF sprayed three dots to the
hydrant's cap in honor of Herb Caen.
The faithful proceed from Lotta's Fountain to 20th and Church Streets
following the 5:12 commemoration downtown. Donna Huggins camps it up in character as fire fighter-loving
Lotta Crabtree.
Herb
Hamrol (with Hank in 2007) attended the festivities again in 2008, his
second year as sole survivor. Says Hank, "At 105, Herb seemed even
more vigorous than last year. He stressed having self confidence in addition
to traditional kinds of earthquake preparedness. Later, at breakfast at
Lefty O'Doul's, Herb tells me he briefly considered retiring from Andronico's
earlier this year but decided to stick with it. Whenever I see Herb, we
inevitably talk about the ways San Francisco has stayed the same while
others dwell on just the opposite. "It hasn't changed that much,"
says Herb, "San Francisco is still the most beautiful City. It still
has the best hotels and restaurants, and everything you need to enjoy
life."