"Father Stout has been delivering cakes to the fire station as long as I can remember," says firefighter John Martinez, who has been with the San Jose Fire Department for 13 years.

"It's always a nice cake, and he brings cards with a picture of St. Florian on them. It's great, he's a real nice man."

Martinez says that, with a crew of five, some cake will be left over for the crew coming the next day. "We leave a little bit for the next guys," he says.

Every year, the cakes are the same—chocolate with white frosting and red icing. And every year, the cakes come from Greenlee's Bakery on The Alameda.

"Mr. Greenlee was a friend of my father, and when Mr. Geldner bought him out, we continued on because he's kept up the quality," Stout says. "It's really high quality."

Stout started the tradition when he became the Catholic chaplain for the San Jose Fire Department, a position he still holds.

"It's to honor St. Florian, to make him known," Stout says. "He lived in the 300s, and he's the patron saint of firefighters."

A Roman army officer serving as military administrator of Noricum, Austria, Florian is said to have rescued a burning town by throwing a single bucket of water on the blaze, ending it. When he later refused to execute a group of Christians and declared his own faith, he was flayed, set on fire and thrown into the river Enns with a stone tied around his neck.

Atop each cake box, Stout attaches a holy card with a drawing of St. Florian on the front and the Firefighter's Prayer on the back. He carries extras in his shirt pocket to pass out.

St. Florian's feast day is traditionally May 4, but that day never worked for Stout.

When he started the tradition, he says, "I was in class and I couldn't get away, so we moved it to the summertime."

Stout taught chemistry and earth science at Bellarmine College Preparatory from 1966 to 1980. He then taught in Sacramento and later at Overfelt High School in San Jose.

Even when he was living in Sacramento, Stout came back to San Jose each summer to deliver cakes.

"There aren't enough adjectives to describe Father Stout's specialness," says San Jose Fire Department spokeswoman Capt. Allison Cabral.

"As a member of this fire department, he has been a tremendous asset in the chaplain work he's done for us, his generosity of spirit, his constant prayer and his faithfulness in delivering the memorial Mass every year."

Cabral adds, "Father Stout is a kind man, and he's been a tremendous gift for the department."

Delivering the cakes this year, Stout jokes, "I'm late as usual. I moved it for its convenience for me and Mr. Geldner and when he can do it."

Now, Stout checks with Norbert Geldner to see how his baking schedule is before picking the date.

"It's a lot of work to make all those cakes," he says.

This year, Stout and Geldner decide on a July day to celebrate St. Florian's Day. Around 9 a.m., Stout arrives to pick up a portion of the cakes and start on his rounds.

Stout makes the deliveries himself, which results in several trips, as his green Geo can only hold seven cakes at a time.

This year he delivers 18 cakes, to 13 of the 31 stations in San Jose, as well as the administration offices and training center.