Lenola Volunteer Fire Company will honor 100 years of service to the community on Sept. 10, with an all-out celebration featuring children’s activities, live music, axe throwing and a fire truck muster.
A short ceremony commemorating company members and contributors, past and present, will kick things off and there will also be food, drinks and a beer garden for adults. Jim Gifford took over as president in January, but has been with the fire company since 2012.
“ … It was kind of always around me growing up, so it was definitely something that I was interested in from a young age,” Gifford said. “And then something I pursued not just on the volunteer side, but also as a career path, so it’s something that’s always stuck with me.”
Gifford shared how the fire company has restarted its auxiliary program, and residents will have an opportunity to learn more about how they can become involved at the anniversary event.
“ … If you don’t have enough time to necessarily (be) a firefighter, there’s other ways you can help out, such as with fundraising or activities that don’t involve firefighting,” he noted.
“ … It’s open for anyone who has any interest in helping out …” Gifford added. “You can’t dedicate the time for school for firefighting, but you want to be around the firehouse and help out as much as you can.”
Other towns are participating in the fire truck muster and Lenola Road will be shut down.
“The fire trucks will be parked on Lenola Road so people are able just to walk up, (and) look at the different fire trucks,” Gifford said. “ … There’s going to be some old fire trucks that people own privately, there’s going to be newer fire trucks from other towns … So there will be plenty for anyone who loves fire trucks or just loves trucks or looking at cars.”
Gifford explained why the celebration will be held in September.
“ … We wanted to make it a time where it wasn’t in the middle of summer … It’s also the week before the New Jersey Firemen’s Convention,” he said. “In our mind, people were going to be getting their trucks ready to go down there (Wildwood), so we (thought), ‘Why don’t we make it the week before so that it’s almost like a warm-up for that?’”
Gifford looks forward to seeing everything come together and praised those who helped plan the event.
“ … You want to see all your hard work pay off … but we just expect people to have a good time,” he noted. “Most of us won’t be here for the 200th, so it’s one of these things you’re going to experience once in your lifetime, and for us that’s a big deal.”
The celebration starts at noon at 229 N. Lenola Road. For updates, visit the Lenola Volunteer Fire Company’s official Facebook page.
