In the late afternoon of Friday, Dec. 14, Dallas Fire Chief Steve Lambert will ride in the town’s annual Christmas parade, his young grandson, Sawyer, at his side.
When the parade is finished and the sirens fall silent and the early dusk of mid-December settles peacefully on the north Gaston municipality, something else will end as well.
For the first time in 43 years, Lambert will no longer be a full-time firefighter. The 14th of December will not only be parade day, it will be his final day on the job, the final day before retirement begins.
In anticipation of that day, the Dallas Fire Department hosted a retirement reception for Lambert Friday evening in the upstairs of the Old Dallas Courthouse on the town square.
The night was marked by stories and tributes, by laughter and tears, and capped by the presentation of the Order of the Long Leaf to the veteran chief by Dallas Mayor Rick Coleman.