Layne celebrates 75th birthday with family
Alvin Lane, a retired battalion chief with the Bella Vista Fire Department, celebrated his 75th birthday with members of his family on Saturday at the Pineville Community Center in Pineville, Mo.
Joan Lane, daughter-inlaw to Alvin Lane, said the party was a combination of family birthdays, but her father-in-law was “the main event” because it was his 75th birthday.
“We have family events, but this one we wanted to make extra special since he’s 75 and my nephew is 30,” she said.
Alvin Lane said he spent 35 years in service as a firefighter at Bella Vista and also was an EMT. He taught classes in extrication and basic firefighting, he said, and did a lot of truck repair and was certified to repair pumps. Before joining the Bella Vista Fire Department, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at Bentonville. He retired from Bella Vista in 2009.
“When I went to work (in Bella Vista), the population there was about 1,500, and when I retired it was in the 20,000 area,” he said.
Before becoming a volunteer firefighter, he was a full-time auto mechanic, he said. One of his fellow mechanics got him interested in firefighting and convinced him to join Bentonville as a volunteer. He liked it and decided to make a career of it.
“I thought there was a little better future as a firefighter than turning wrenches,” he said.
He added, “I enjoyed (being around other firefighters) and making the runs and putting out fires and taking care of people, and I enjoyed my last run almost as much as my first one.”
He and his wife of 55 years, Rosiland, live on a 180-acre farm in Pineville and have cattle that he cares for. He said he takes care of the carpentry work and has restored some old vehicles and keeps all his equipment running.
“I think it’s harder work being retired than it is working,” he said.
He and Rosiland have two sons and two daughters-inlaw and three grandchildren. They have lived in Pineville since 1983.
He is a member of the McDonald County Extension Council and a member of the American Truck Historical Society and drove a school bus for five years.