Marblehead senior soars skyward for bucket-list wish

SWAMPSCOTT – Alice Campbell barely had time to wave to her friends Tuesday before soaring 93 feet in the air inside Swampscott Ladder 21’s aerial bucket with firefighter Bill Vousboukis at the controls.”That was wonderful,” said Campbell after spending 10 minutes surveying Swampscott and surrounding scenery courtesy of the Swampscott Fire Department.Campbell is an 86-year-old Marblehead resident who whittled down her bucket list with a ride in the aerial platform that began when she spotted Fire Lt. Remo Zimbaldi walking out of the Swampscott Senior Center. “Alice was playing cards and she said, ?Excuse me, can I go up in the ladder truck?'” Zimbaldi said.Zimbaldi brought her request to Fire Chief Kevin Breen for approval, and Breen signed off on it.Ladder 21 rolled into the Swampscott High School parking lot shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, promptly attracting a senior center crowd. Campbell’s friends clustered around her as Vousboukis swung the bucket over the parking lot and lowered it to the ground.Zimbaldi escorted Campbell to the bucket with its chest-high metal sides and Vousboukis pointed out control levers before shooting skyward. He pivoted it for a panoramic view of the coast before lowering Campbell back to the ground.”I’m just overwhelmed by it,” she said as she climbed out of the bucket.Purchased by the town in 2004, Ladder 21 is designed to extend and place the bucket with its large hose nozzle pointing down a fire. Firefighters operating the truck can pour 1,200 gallons a minute on a fire.Breen said three or four people bid every year for a ride in one of the town’s fire trucks as part of the annual auction to benefit local cable television programming, but said only a couple of people outside the fire department have headed skyward in the aerial bucket.After her ride, Campbell thanked Breen, Zimbaldi, Vousboukis and Ladder 21 firefighter William Hyde. Breen said his 91-year-old mother-in-law, Doris Spacer, might follow Campbell’s lead and ask for a bucket ride.”She’s as spry as Alice,” he said.Senior Center Assistant Director Susan Pierce said Campbell has come to the center twice a week for 12 years and said her request to Zimbaldi caused a stir among fellow seniors.”They were all excited – it’s big doins’,” she said.Campbell said setting goals and spending time with other people is the key to enjoying life. She divides her time between the Marblehead and Swampscott senior centers as well as traveling.”There’s no reason for anyone to be lonely these days,” she said.She isn’t quick to reveal the items she has knocked off her bucket list, but Campbell said Tuesday’s lofty ride ranks right up there with the times when her nephew, Scott Hodges of Marblehead, has driven her to the Swampscott Senior Center on his Harley Davidson.”I’ve got enough on my list to keep me going until I’m 100,” Campbell said.