| The first weekend in May, is the annual Southern Maryland Firemen's Association Convention. This year it was hosted by the Leonardtown Volunteer Rescue Squad on Sunday May 5th. Friday night is the Ladies Auxiliary banquet with the Memorial Service and Installation of Officers for the Association held on Saturday. Sunday the convention concludes with the parade.
This year the Mechanicsville Volunteers were recognized all three days. On Friday, Ladies Auxiliary member Susannah Fowler was awarded the "Mary Jane Scully Fire Prevention Award".
On Saturday, members who had answered their last alarm during the last year were honored during the Memorial Service. Past President and Life Member John "Monkey" Montgomery was awarded the prestigious honor of being inducted into the Southern Maryland Firemen's Association Hall of Fame.The Fire Prevention Committee was also recognized with an award for their hard work.
On Sunday, it was show time. Crews had worked diligently for the past four weeks in preparation for the parade. The vibe between the members was just clicking and everyone was working together. The plan was to bring the "Big One" back to Mechanicsville where it belongs. For the four weeks prior to the parade, every member pitched in and helped clean on the apparatus to ensure everything was parade ready. There was a few small problems with five members leaving for Pierce Manufacturing on Sunday morning and several other members were out of town. With that, everyone knew it would take a total department effort to accomplish the objective.
On Sunday morning crews boarded the apparatus and started the mission.Thirty-five firemen, ten ladies auxiliary members, the Junior Fire Chief, the Little Miss Fire Prevention, and Miss Fire Prevention made the trip to Leonardtown with one thing on their mind and that was to show the pride and dedication put forth by our department. Of course, their eyes were set on victory as well!
All twenty-two entries were checked in and final touches were made once we were in line up.
We came away victorious and all members did an outstanding job. Below is a list of awards won by the department four our efforts.
Best Appearing Company Overall
Best Appearing Rescue Pumper
2nd Best Appearing 1250 GPM Engine
2nd Best Antique Unit
2nd Best Marching Unit
2nd Best Junior Fire Chief
Marching Unit Pictures Courtesy of Tony Codespote http://jpcphotography.smugmug.com/Fire-Photos/Southern-MD-Firemans/29263031_GzxRxn#!i=2494647677&k=Dq55JZZ
Firefighter Game Pictures Courtesy of Southern Maryland News Net http://smnewsnet.com/archives/62542 |
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