By Dirk Perrefort
Connecticut Post Online (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
MILFORD, Conn. — The annual Fire Apparatus and Muster Show at Eisenhower Park, which will celebrate its 35th anniversary next month, is one of the last of its kind in New England, those planning to attend this year’s event said.
“Unfortunately, the amount of musters in the region has declined in recent years,” said Lt. Tom Stretz, a member of the Mohegan Volunteer Fire Association in New York who has been visiting the local muster since the beginning. “That’s why so many of our members look forward to the Milford muster each year. It’s the last of its kind in New England.”
Stretz and other members of his department will bring a 1941 Mack firetruck that was recently refurbished for about $80,000. The truck has been with the department for more than 60 years and was decommissioned in 1972. The truck is one of an array of old apparatus that will be featured during the muster, which will be held Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the North Street park.
Vaughan Dumas, chairman of the event, said the truck will be featured on T-shirts, coffee mugs and other souvenirs at the show. The show, which will include more than 60 antique firetrucks and other apparatus, is also an opportunity for firefighters to test their skills, Dumas said.
“There are different competitions held throughout the day that test the firefighters skills,” he said.
Some of the more popular competitions, Dumas said, include the relay pumping event, in which firefighters race against the clock to suit up, drive their truck to a water source and pump the truck full with water before knocking down bowling pins on a nearby tower with the water hoses.
Dumas said that money raised through the event is donated annually to Camp Happiness, a summer program run by the city’s recreation department for children with disabilities. Organizers of the muster have donated thousands of dollars to the camp since its inception. Marlene Sanchez, the coordinator of the camp, said staff members are always more than happy to volunteer their time at the food booth during the show, where much of the money for the camp is collected.
“The muster is always a great time,” Sanchez said. “Our staff is always more than willing to come out and help. Milford is lucky that we still have an active muster. There aren’t that many around anymore.”