MONTVALE—It was the summer of 1944 when the Ladies Auxiliary of the Montvale Fire Department posed for this photo in the municipal park at Kinderkamack Road and Grand Avenue.
The Auxiliary, organized in 1935, has been an integral part of the department, providing help to firefighters during fires and other emergencies.
Auxiliary members pictured include: seated on the lawn, Mrs. F. Diaz and Mrs. Frank Etcheberry; in the first row, Mrs. E. Rhinhart, Mrs. J. Pape, Mrs. George Huff, Mrs. Henry Metlitz, and Mrs. H. Daehnke; second row, Mrs. Eric Wesselman, Mrs. John Tomasini, Mrs. Edward Nusz, Mrs. Leonard Erickson, Mrs. Fred Puvogel, Mrs. Jules W. Schwenker, and Mrs. John Engel; and in the top row: Mrs. Elwood J. Wilson, Mrs. Joseph Papay, Miss Elizabeth De Pasquale, Miss Ann De Pasquale, Mrs. George Pratt, and Mrs. B. Mills.
Margaret Diaz and Inza Etcheberry, the women sitting in front on the grass, helped organize the Auxiliary and were its first officers, serving as president and vice-president, respectively.
Visible behind the women is another “lady” that some long-timers in Montvale might remember. This statue, a woman depicted in a classical style, was known by locals as Diana. She stood atop a fieldstone pedestal in a fountain fed by a natural spring.
For 40 years, it was a tradition for teenage pranksters to paint her on Halloween. It was all in good fun, and police looked the other way. In the 1950s, the statue started leaning to the side, and in 1956, it finally toppled from its base.