The Capital
ODENTON, Md. — What is the proper beverage for christening vessels? It’s well known that boats are christened with champagne.
Lesser known is that some of the Delta Airline fleet have been christened with bottles of Coca-Cola and grape juice.
Last Saturday the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company christened its new pumper Engine 282 using a hand-held fire extinguisher filled with water.
The ceremony was held at the station garage, 1425 Annapolis Road. A committee of eight took two years working together to come up with the specs and see the apparatus built.
Bob Rose, master of ceremony, jokingly stated that during the two years the committee had “no disagreement on the color of the paint.”
Many local dignitaries from surrounding fire departments participated. Citations of congratulations were presented by State Sens. Ed Reilly, Jim Roseapepe and Ed DeGrange.
For OVFC Chief Ray Hodgeson it was a “bittersweet day” as it marked the retirement of Engine 281.
Former OVFC Chief Don Evick took a turn at the podium, stating how fortunate Odenton is to always have good apparatuses. “We put a lot of wear on our engines, we make full use of them.” OVFC makes about 5,000 calls a year.
The current president of OVFC Jim Allen was next. “Hopefully 25 years down the road this engine will still be in use.”
The Board of Directors dedicated the apparatus to OVFC life member Bob Rose. During the ceremony a plaque on the engine was revealed with the dedication on it. “It’s a great honor,” said Bob. After a pause, Bob continued with his light-hearted but well-known humor: “When something gets dedicated to you - the thought struck me - it means you’re really old!”
The much awaited christening of the engine was performed by Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firefighters Association Chaplain John Long. Using a hand-held fire extinguisher, Long sprayed from the front to the back of Pumper Engine 282.
A unique tradition during the dedication ceremony includes pushing the apparatus into the garage three times.
The first push into the garage was by OVFC department families. The second was by community members, and the last by OVFC members.
The engine was finally put into service by a radio call placed to headquarters. The responding message came over the loudspeaker for all at the station to hear. Shortly thereafter the ceremony for the new engine was quickly brought to a close by OVFC President Jim Allen stating, “it will probably be going on the road soon.”
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