VALE—There is something special about bringing the community together over a meal, especially when it is for a good cause. When that good cause is helping the local Volunteer Fire Department during a really hard fire year, then the community is sure to show up and show support, right?
A resounding yes, as proven by the turnout at the annual Vale Volunteer Fire Department Corn Feed held on August 8 at the Vale Community Hall. The Community Hall was filled to the brim with neighbors showing up to support the Fire Department.
There was also overflow to the outside picnic tables. They were full, too. “It is a good fundraiser and it brings a lot of people together here, and we need it, that’s for sure,” explained Mike Grubl, Vale Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief. “Just like any of these area departments, we travel a long ways and especially this year our resources are—our funds are getting down. But you know, we’re not in terrible shape, but we still got to get through August.”
The hot, dry summer has brought a rough season for the local fire departments. They are called out to fight fires almost daily. As a result, their resources are getting depleted. Even though it is a volunteer fire department, it has a lot of expenses involved in fighting fires. “Anything that goes into [fighting fires] even if it’s extrication gear or extrication stuff—none of that’s cheap and it takes a toll on us—but we look at it as, if we can buy one piece of equipment that might be a $10,000 deal—if it saves one life then we know it’s well paid for—so we work at that and try to better our department every year or every time we get a chance,” said Grubl. “I’m blessed that we got such a good crew and we got great departments that are around us—we’re like a team and a family.”
The Corn Feed fundraiser has been around for quite a while and then the VFD took a break from having the annual event for about 10–12 years. They started having the Corn Feed about eight years ago and have been having it every August since.
Fire Chief Grubl has been the leader of the VFD for the past 23 years. He has around 28 volunteer firefighters at the VFD but relies on all of the surrounding fire departments when needed. “Some of ours are some of the Butte Fire Department guys, and then we do a lot with Sturgis—right now we have about six of ours that are doing shifts for Sturgis during the rally.”
All of the crews work together to take care of the entire area. “I just can’t say enough about how proud I am of our crews that are here and what we see every day—we are trying to eliminate some of the bigger catastrophes that could happen. Our extrication crews, between all of us up here, are just like you’re in Meade County, they are good,” said Grubl.
Jim Hanson and Matt Hanson provided the ears of corn for the Corn Feed. The fire department members donated the meat for the hamburgers and hot dogs served at the Corn Feed. There were also a variety of salads and side dishes brought and shared by the community. A full table of desserts was also available.
Outside there were lawn games and water games as well as a swimming pool for the young ones to enjoy.
A silent auction and a live auction in addition to a “fill the boot” free-will donation for the food all worked together to raise funds for the Vale Fire Department. “The biggest thing is if it ain’t our department, please donate to your local fire departments, they need the help,” encouraged Grubl.
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