A tradition at Alimo’s Pizzeria brought local firefighters, junior firefighters, and community members together in Slave Lake on Aug. 10.

Moe Mouallem, owner of Alimo’s Pizzeria, says the event is a way for the business to show its appreciation for local firefighters by offering them free ice cream.

“The event was really good,” says Mouallem. “It was mainly just for us to show our appreciation to the local firefighters and the students they have in their team there.”

Mouallem says Alimo’s has held the free ice cream event for firefighters approximately eight to 10 times over the years, although there have been some years when it could not take place.

This year, firefighters brought some of their trucks to Alimo’s and invited the public to come by and take a closer look.

“That whole street was packed with cars and people and fire trucks,” he says.

While Mouallem did not have an exact number for the overall turnout, he says the hour-and-a-half event was very busy. Around 40 firefighters, junior firefighters, and volunteers can be seen in the group photo from the event. Some firefighters also brought their families.

The free ice cream was provided to the firefighters and their families, while other community members were invited to meet the firefighters, take pictures and check out the fire trucks.

The relationship between Alimo’s and the local fire department also has a unique history.

In October 2019, a new firefighter who had moved to Slave Lake from Ontario was asked to order 18 extra-large pizzas from Alimo’s for the fire crew.

There was just one problem.

Instead of finding Alimo’s in Slave Lake, the firefighter misspelled the name as “Alamo” and accidentally placed the order with a pizza restaurant in San Antonio, Texas.

After realizing the mistake, the firefighters still paid for the pizzas and donated them to firefighters in San Antonio.
Mouallem says their decision inspired Alimo’s to do something positive in Slave Lake.

“We decided overnight,” he says.

The following day, Alimo’s launched what became its Random Acts of Pizza initiative. Staff dropped pizzas off at local businesses and even stopped people walking along the street to give them pizzas

The unusual pizza mix-up quickly attracted attention well beyond Slave Lake, with Mouallem doing interviews with Canadian and American media outlets.

The story even caught the attention of Paramount Pictures during the promotion of Playing with Fire, a firefighter comedy movie starring John Cena. Mouallem says the movie promotion took inspiration from what happened in Slave Lake and delivered pizzas to fire departments in several U.S. cities.

“It was crazy,” says Mouallem.

The experience strengthened a relationship Alimo’s already had with the local fire department.

“That kind of tied us together permanently,” says Mouallem.

He says the mistake generated significant attention for the Slave Lake business, and Alimo’s wanted to turn the experience into something that could benefit the wider community.

Alimo’s now tries to hold Random Acts of Pizza every October around the anniversary of the original mix-up. The free ice cream event for local firefighters is separate and is generally held during the summer on a date that works for the fire department.
Mouallem says events like the recent gathering also give residents a chance to learn more about the people behind the local fire service.

“I think it’s just good to kind of bring the community together,” he says.
The event also gave children a chance to get an up-close look at the fire trucks and their equipment.

Mouallem says his own son was amazed by the trucks and all of their buttons and gadgets.

He says the event gives families an opportunity to “pull back the curtain” and get a closer look inside the trucks while meeting the people who help protect the community.

Julia Magsombol
Lakeside Leader