Long before Larkspur had a modern fire department, a group of volunteers built one themselves.

They purchased equipment, built a fire station, installed alarm systems and fire hydrants, and funded much of it by hosting one of Marin County’s most beloved traditions—the Rose Bowl dances.

Today, few people remember how much those volunteers shaped Larkspur.

That’s something lifelong resident Dennis Gilardi hopes to change.

Surrounded by historic photographs, family mementos and local memorabilia in his downtown office, Dennis shared with LCF the stories of the firefighters who helped build a town—and why preserving their legacy matters today.

A Downtown Native

Dennis’s connection to Larkspur runs back generations. His grandfather moved the family from Petaluma to Larkspur in 1921 and established a downtown meat market. He was born and raised downtown, growing up in a close-knit community where merchants knew one another by name and civic involvement was simply part of everyday life.

Dennis turned down the opportunity to take over his uncle’s catering business to study business at Santa Clara University. After working in public accounting, he and his wife, Susan founded a legal services firm and became investors in local real estate. 

“My father went to College of Marin and then USF, later going to law school at night and working during the day as a butcher. This was back in the late ’30s and into the ’40s, and that’s what you did. Larkspur was a blue-collar town. My uncle Andrew had a catering business on Magnolia.”

The lessons Dennis learned growing up stayed with him.

“During the Depression, my grandfather took care of a lot of people,” recalls Dennis. “As a butcher, you had the food and you made sure those who needed it had some.”

Those early experiences shaped a lifetime of civic involvement. Together, Dennis and his wife, Susan, have provided significant financial support to key organizations including Marin Hospice, Whistlestop, Marin Health, College of Marin and Twin Cities Little League, serving on boards and helping fund projects throughout Marin County. 

One gift still makes him laugh. “Twenty years ago, the heads of the Little League wanted to refurbish the T-ball field, so I agreed to help fund that. I named it for Susan—so I gave her a diamond for her birthday.”

The Volunteers Who Built a Town

Dennis’ appreciation for community service and connection to Larkspur history led to his service in the volunteer fire department.

“Back in the day, the horn would go off and the shopkeepers would run out and get in the fire truck,” says Dennis. “The volunteers literally built—and paid for—the fire department before turning it over to the city.”

Larkspur’s volunteer fire department traces its beginnings to about 1908, when residents organized in response to devastating fires in San Francisco, Sausalito and San Rafael. (Read the complete history here.)  The department started with little more than a hand-drawn hose cart, a bucket brigade and no permanent firehouse. By 1913, it had incorporated as the Larkspur Association of Volunteer Firemen, laying the foundation for one of the town’s most influential civic organizations.

The volunteers soon found an innovative way to finance their department. What began as fundraising dances during Booster Days evolved into the famous Rose Bowl dances, held beneath towering redwoods on Cane Street. For five decades, the dances generated enough revenue to purchase fire engines, hydrants, alarm systems, stations and equipment.  

A 1939 article reported on the unique nature of the Larkspur Fire Department: “It costs the taxpayers of the town not a cent to maintain… It is not thought that any other town in the U.S. can boast a self-supporting fire organization.” By 1947, the entire volunteer fire operation was valued at $500,000—a remarkable achievement for a town the size of Larkspur.

In 1957, the association donated its firefighting equipment and facilities to the City of Larkspur, completing the transition to a municipal fire department. The Rose Bowl dances continued until 1963, when the dance floor land was sold and developed.

Although the volunteers no longer served as the town’s primary firefighting force, the organization survived—today as the Larkspur Volunteer Fire Foundation—preserving the department’s history, maintaining its historic apparatus, including the restored 1916 Ford Model T fire engine, and supporting fire service and historical preservation projects throughout the community.

“One of My Life’s Goals”

Now this history deserves a permanent home.

“One of my life goals is to turn our downtown fire station into a fire museum,” says Dennis.

Though the current downtown fire station still serves Larkspur, the Central Marin Fire Department is looking at ways to upgrade and potentially reposition its facilities in the area. The downtown station is too small to house today’s large firefighting trucks and may end up being decommissioned. 

Turning the station into a museum would be more more than a display of old fire equipment. Dennis sees it as a place where residents can discover the stories behind Larkspur’s volunteer firefighters and the community they served. 

The collection already includes historic photographs, uniforms, firefighting equipment, documents and memorabilia that tell the story not only of the volunteer department but of early Larkspur itself. He hopes to partner with neighboring fire departments and the Marin History Museum to create exhibits that explain how volunteers protected their town, financed their department and built one of California’s finest volunteer fire organizations.

Just as important, he envisions the building remaining a gathering place.

Drawing on memories of community dinners once held in the station, the museum would preserve the upstairs kitchen and meeting rooms while converting the ground floor into a museum capable of hosting lectures, school programs, emergency preparedness workshops and neighborhood events.

“That’s why I look at the downtown fire station building and think about what it could be again,” says Dennis, a veteran restorer of many historic buildings.  “It’s in the middle of town, people can walk to it, and it could be a place where the community gathers.”

Preserving More Than Buildings

Dennis has also become one of Larkspur’s strongest advocates for restoring its historic City Hall, arguing that the building’s old-growth redwood construction makes it worthy of restoration rather than replacement.

“My quest is to get the community involved to renovate, protect and use City Hall as a government office,” says Dennis. “Start with the fact that it is a solid building. It’s built out of true two-by-twelve virgin redwood timbers. Its bones are good.”

And City Hall has its own fire department history. “The volunteer fire department parked its fire truck where the children’s library is now. And there’s still a tower in the back corner where they dried the fire hoses.”

For Dennis, preservation isn’t about freezing history in time. It’s about helping people understand the stories behind familiar places.

“I think people move here and look around and think, ‘Oh, it was always like this.’ You just kind of take it for granted. You look at City Hall and think, ‘How cool is that?’ But you don’t think about what’s gone into it or what’s threatening it. People need to know the background and get involved.”

Carrying the Tradition Forward

Dennis believes the same community spirit that built Larkspur’s volunteer fire department still exists in town today.

“I’m a firm believer this community has the resources to make the fire department museum a reality,” says Dennis. “If you have a project that the community believes in, you can fund it. It’s not an issue. The new library is a good example.”

More than a century after volunteers first organized to protect Larkspur—and found an inventive way to pay for it through the Rose Bowl dances—Dennis hopes future generations will carry that spirit forward.

“I’m seeing a lot of good, positive things happening around here. The young people moving in want to stay here. They’re involved with the schools, the sports, the community. They’re committed and interested. So I think the foundation is there, and Larkspur’s still like the ’50s when I was a kid here. Everybody knew everybody and worked together.”

—

Be a part of Larkspur’s historic tradition! Support the Larkspur Community Foundation by purchasing tickets to our 2026 Rose Bowl Dance fundraiser on Sept. 19, 2026. And watch for Larkspur’s vintage fire truck in the 4th of July parade!