Firefighters thank community for support with festival marking diamond anniversary
MARMORA — The Marmora Volunteer Fire Company celebrated its 75th anniversary with a festival Saturday, June 11, to thank the community for all of the years of support.
“We invited the public because the community has supported us for 75 years,” Chief Jay Newman said.
The event was an open house for the company headquarters at 40 N. Old Tuckahoe Road, where albums featuring the history of the department were on display.
There were free hot dogs and hamburgers courtesy of Mike Endicott, Capt. Doug Stauffer and firefighter John Simonson on the grill.
A live band entertained in the parking lot, where Buddy’s Ice Cream and Water Ice kept everybody cool. Along one side, Margie Barham, Devon Morris and Ryan Albertson were working the wheel, with prizes geared toward the over-21 crowd. Next door was free beer in $15 mugs from Duck Town Tavern. On the other side were bouncy houses and children’s crafts, along with popular characters such as Spider-Man and Belle to pose with for pictures.
Checking out the antique fire apparatus were Joe Minchelli and his wife, Karen. They came with his father, Lt. Lou Minchelli, who brought his very own 1975 Mack pumper along to show it off.
“They gave it to me for my 90th birthday party,” Lt. Minchelli said, calling it a jaw-dropper.
He said he drove a truck exactly like it when he served on the New York Fire Department for 25 years. During that time, he worked in firehouses 48, 50, 69 and 63, serving the Bronx and Harlem during the 1960s and 1970s.
“They call it the war years,” Karen Minichelli said.
He also worked on a fire boat in Manhattan for a year.
“It was good pay,” he said, noting he started in 1955 when he was 25.
Eyeing up the red and chrome beauty was former Marmora chief Stan Totten. The two talked about their mutual service during the Korean War, shared love for firefighting and marveled that they were both 92 years old.
Totten said when he started the company had only about 30 volunteers and now has at least twice that number. He said they had to use old, used equipment in the beginning but through the support of the community were able to acquire a couple of new engines during his time at the helm.
Totten said firefighting has been part of his life for 73 years and that he is still active with the department in his hometown of Townsend, Tenn.
“It’s in me,” he said.
Taking a break from the grill, Simonson said he is in his 10th year, having started when he was 16.
“I grew up around here and knew I wanted to get into public safety, so I started doing this,” he said, noting that he also serves as a police officer in Ocean City. “You get tons of training, lots of good experiences and a team environment.”
Life members Paul Hoster, who joined the company in 1985, and Rob Lea, who joined in 1974, were keeping in the shade inside.
Hoster, 69, is chairman of the fire commission.
“We enjoy doing what we do,” he said of why they have been at it so long.
“It’s a family,” Lea said. “A lot of times it’s a grandfather and a father and then a son.”
Hoster said his wife, Elizabeth, who was working at the T-shirt sales table, is a member of the fire police who directs traffic during calls.
“It’s a sense of self-satisfaction that you know you are helping others,” Hoster said.
They said even if first responders’ children do not follow them into public safety, they grow up with the sense of responsibility to the community gained through family ties.
Outside, Kaylin Stanley, 11, and Payton McAfee, 11, rising sixth-graders at Upper Township Middle School, were waiting for the action to begin. Cruz Young, 4, and brother Cinco Young, 6, were burning off some steam at the bounce houses as mother Megan Young attempted to keep their exuberance to a safe level.
Firefighter Doug Snyder, his wife, Dale Snyder, and firefighter Jeff Pierson Jr. sat on a truck nearby.
Twins Avery and Lana Maldonado, 5, stopped by for a cool treat with their grandmother. Kevin and Meghan Schweer brought Eric, 3, and infant Eloise for a day of play.
“This guy absolutely loves firefighters and firetrucks, so we thought it was great the town was offering this kind of event and we are really excited for it,” Meghan said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
