SPAAMFAA membership tops 1,800, with 18 regional chapters. More than 40 antique fire apparatus musters were held across the U.S. in 1980. Indiana member John R. Gambs succeeds Tim Elder as SPAAMFAA’s national President.

The California Chapter hosted the 1980 SPAAMFAA Summer Convention & Muster in San Jose, California July 17-20 – the farthest afield our main event has ever traveled. One of the muster events was a “church raise” – the raising of a 65-foot wooden extension ladder by members of San Francisco’s St. Francis Hook & Ladder Society. The extremely active California Chapter had also staged an early bird muster during the first week of January – something most of the rest of us can only dream about. Chris Cavette took over as Editor of the California Chapter Newsletter: he’s still doing it today, some 28 years later.

One new chapter – Colorado – joined our still-growing organization.