In 1985, the remaining ten members of  The Lucky 13, met for a thirty-year reunion.  For those who don't know, The Lucky 13 were all hired into HFD together in February 1955. We'd gathered together this way many times in the years since. As we talked, we realized we wanted a way to expand this same camaraderie to the rest of the Hayward Fire Department community. So, on March 1, 1985 a letter went out to all retirees, inviting them to join The Retired Hayward Firefighters and Spouses Civic and Social Association aka The Hayward Firefolks.

By the end of 1985, 34 out of 54 retired families had joined. We created and approved our by-laws and submitted all the required Federal and State paper work and thus became a recognized non-profit social club. Eventually we expanded our by-laws to include any person who previously worked for the Fire Department and left in good standing.

In 2002 we have a total of 143 dues paying members. Dues are $12.00 per year, per member, due on January 1.