Somber parade
The line of fire trucks, police cars and rescue vehicles quietly made its way up Linn Avenue Saturday morning.This wasn’t your normal parade; this was a group of men and women, most of whom are volunteers, saying goodbye and honoring the memory of one of their own.On Monday, James Olsen, the Croell Redi-Mix employee and member of the Alta Vista Fire Department who most knew simply as “J,” died when the cement truck he was driving overturned in a ditch along a county road southeast of North Washington.Five days later, vehicles from more than a dozen agencies led Olsen’s family and friends as they made their way from Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home to Congregational United Church of Christ for the 40-year-old Olsen’s funeral was held.— For more on this story, see the Oct. 4 Tribune