Published: May 07, 2008 01:33 am            

Slocum, 84 East VFDs hosting fundraisers Saturday

Saturday figures to be a big day for a pair of Anderson County volunteer fire departments.

The Slocum Volunteer Fire Department is holding its 32nd annual Bar-B-Que and School Reunion starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, and three hours later, the annual 84 East Volunteer Fire Department Fish Fry gets underway.

Slocum’s event features a trail ride at 8 a.m. and parade at 9 a.m., with the barbecue starting at 10 a.m., live entertainment at 11 a.m., a live auction at 1 p.m. and the school reunion beginning at 2 p.m.

Plenty of food is being prepared for Saturday’s crowd, Slocum VFD chief Ben Missildine said.

“We’ll have 1,300 pounds of brisket, 250 pounds of sausage and 200 pounds of ham,” Missildine said, to go along with homemade potato salad and beans. Cost of the meal is $8 a plate.

Other activities include a dunking booth, arts and crafts, a helicopter from East Texas Medical Center and the mobile blood unit from Carter Blood Center.

Funds raised Saturday will help Slocum cover its portion of cost of installing new skid unit equipment on a 2000 Chevrolet pickup. Grant money pays for part of the cost, with the fire department expected to pay the rest, Missildine said. Any funds raised beyond the needed amount will go toward rising fuel costs, he added.

The refurbished pickup truck joins the department’s Mustang blue 2007 Freightliner pumper-rescue truck as the Slocum VFD’s latest large equipment.

The pumper-rescue truck, painted in Slocum Mustang royal blue, has been a big boost for the department, Missildine said.

“It’s a vital necessity,” he said. “We can go to a scene with all of our equipment on one truck instead of four different trucks. It carries all of our rescue tools.”

For general information, contact Charles Abernathy, 903-478-3483; Missildine, 903-724-0620; or Dan Hernandez, 903-478-2284; for information regarding the reunion, call Amy Jones at 903-478-3947 or Robin Welch at 903-478-3980; for entertainment information, call Missildine; for trail ride information, call Roger Jones at 903-478-3947; and for parade information, call Leah Glenn at 903-723-3680.

84 East VFD Fish Fry

The 84 East VFD Fish Fry gets underway at 11 a.m. and lasts until 2 p.m. Saturday at the fire station at 2186 ACR 385, the second entrance to Circle R Lake from U.S. 84 east of Palestine.

Although Slocum keeps its annual fundraiser on the Saturday prior to Mother’s Day each year, the 84 East event normally is on a different weekend, chief Darwin Mitchell said. However, other dates were not feasible and necessitated the move to Saturday this year, he said.

Saturday’s meal will include fried catfish, cole slaw, tater tots, hushpuppies, beans, fixings, drinks and desserts. Carryouts will be available. Minimum donation is $6 per plate.

Funds raised Saturday will help 84 East VFD pay for bunker gear and radios for five new members, as well as for its latest truck, a 1977 Ford 8000 E-6 pumper recently purchased from Limestone Fire Department near Chicago, Ill.

Fireman Gary Greener, a retired police officer from Grapevine and the Denton County Sheriff’s Office, found the truck for sale online and told the department about it.

“I actually found it looking on the Internet,” Greener said.

Fellow firefighters Alan Fox and his wife flew to Chicago to inspect the truck and purchase it during the late winter, and Fox’s son Christopher and fireman Dee Bell flew to Chicago and drove it back to Texas.

The truck, which was completely refurbished in 1998, can pump 1,000 gallons a minute and replaces the department’s older yellow truck.

For more information on the 84 East VFD Fish Fry, call Mitchell at 903-729-6627. To confirm dessert donations, call Christine Mitchell at 903-729-6627; Kristi Mitchell, 903-538-0185; Terry Rabin, 903-729-0758; or Jeep Zea, 903-723-0285.

————

Beth Foley may be contacted via e-mail at bfoley@palestineherald.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.