HCVFD Ladies’ Auxiliary Plans Fair Fundraising

Just as Highland County depends on its volunteer fire department to protect the community, the fire department depends on the community to keep it operating. Acting as a liaison between the two is the Highland County Volunteer Fire Department’s Ladies’ Auxiliary, and we spoke to member Betty Smith to find out more.

“The Ladies’ Auxiliary was formed to support the fire department in all of its’ ventures. Their fundraisers – like, they do the Fire Queen Contest, which is more of a tradition, that puts the young kids involved in it. Then they have the floats in the parades, and that gets it all out to the public, so that people know that this group of women is supporting our fire department.”

“All of our money goes to the fire department and whatever they need to purchase – whatever equipment they are trying to buy – to keep the kitchen in the firehouse up to date, so we can fix meals. We want to have all the equipment there to do a meal, to serve a meal. Everything that we do is basically to build on the fire department – that’s front and foremost in our minds when we’re raising money.”

She spoke about recent efforts to revitalize the Auxiliary.

“We are looking for new members, or past members that would like to come back. We need new blood, new ideas, to keep us out in the public eye so people actually know what the Ladies’ Auxiliary is all about.

“Back several years ago, there used to be a lot of women that were involved in the fire department, in the Ladies’ Auxiliary, because it was like, the husband was on the fire department, the wife supported them with the Ladies Auxiliary. Well, it’s gotten to the point now that, as of two or three months ago, there was actually only four members that ever showed up for a meeting – sometimes only three.

“So, the first meeting we had, that we have gotten new people to come in, we had ten people there. And all we said was, for you to be a member, you show up – if you want to join, we’ll let you join. You don’t have to go through a whole voting period, and all that kind of stuff. So, when we had that meeting, we decided, okay let’s vote for officers, and get it set up the way it should be set up. So that’s what we did, and are getting new by-laws written up, and are working toward thinking of some kind of new fundraisers, to support the fire department.”

“The meeting in August has been changed. We are normally going to meet the second Monday of the month, at 7:00, at the firehouse, and that will be from January through October. But the meeting for August, we have set it up to the first Monday of the month, because we are doing a fundraiser at the fair, and we need to get everything in order before fair time.

“This year, we’re going to do the cake wheel, where it’s like a roulette wheel where you lay down your coin and you win a cake, maybe for a quarter, and we need the public’s help with that, because we need cakes. Anybody that would like to make a cake, it can be delivered to the firehouse. The firehouse will be open the days of the fair, or they can deliver it actually to the fairgrounds. Late in the afternoon, late in the evening, there will be somebody there to take it up. And we’re going to need, we’re saying, somewhere between 125 and 150 cakes, if we can get them, because we’re going to do it all four nights of the fair.

“Also, we are going to sell breakfast sandwiches to the people that are there for the livestock shows, and the kids that are in the livestock barn early in the morning. We’re going to try to serve sausage biscuits, ham biscuits, coffee water, drinks, whatever. And that’s something we have never done before, we’re just going to try and see how it works.”

Ms. Smith provided contact info for those interested in becoming involved.

“At the present time, if they want to, they can contact me, and they can always call me on the phone – 540-468-2647.”