Editor’s note: This article was not run completely. On, April 25, 2005, at the Vallery lodge the first meeting of the Nisland-Arpan Fire Auxiliary. Those in attendance were Karrol Herman, Sandy Heidrich, Rhonda Vallery, and Codi Vallery. Not a single member knew of the impact they were going to have on the community.
“It started with a group of ladies that were community minded, and wanted to preserve the history of the fire department.” Said Rhonda Vallery while I helped her and Sandy Heidrich cut up rhubarb for the upcoming pie sale in August.
“When we started we had to borrow $250 dollars from the firemen, to become incorporated.” Sandy said. A lot has changed in twenty years, but one thing that hasn’t changed is Sandy and Rhonda. Through the years members have come and gone, but Sandy and Rhonda have stuck it out for twenty years!
The Auxiliary’s first event was an Ice cream social courtesy of Edy’s ice cream in the summer of 2005. Karla Lewis entered the department in an online promotion to receive the Ice cream for a hometown hero summer block party. Many different fundraisers and community events have continued from that moment on, including bake sales, a movie night, soup suppers, potato topper suppers, and an annual pie sale, which leads us to our question, how many pies does it take to support our firefighters, and the answer is over 2,734 recorded pies. That is a lot of pies no wonder they are called the pie ladies!
It takes much more then pies. It takes hardworking ladies to do the baking and it wasn’t just the auxiliary, most years there were large amounts of donated pies from the community, not to mention the donations from grocery stores and local businesses, It take hours upon hours of precious time to prepare for events, but above everything else it takes a community to buy all those pies. All so we can support our firefighters, as they stand by, ready to go at any moment when there is a call for help.
“We are lucky to have a super active Auxiliary, it adds to the success of the fire department and the community.” Says Nisland-Arpan fire chief Stan Lewis.
The auxiliary would like to thank you for the last twenty years of your support, and hope for many, many more years to come.
If you would like to join the auxiliary or volunteer the meetings are typically the first Tuesday of the month at 6:00 PM at the firehall in Nisland.
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