The first Annual Banquet to honor local area Volunteer Firefighters as well as the Rescue Squad & Ambulance Corps was held at the Galleria at Split Rock last Saturday evening.  It was well attended by residents and the attendees included Pa State Representative Keith McCall.  After a cocktail hour dinner, awards presentations and dancing followed.  The event was well supported by local businesses via door prize donations, an ad book, and reduced rates for the venue and food.  A good time was had by all and it was an inspiring evening to boot.

The evening was set up as a chance for residents and the community to thank the brave men and women who volunteer their time to do a dangerous job which the Township would be hard-pressed to provide via tax revenues.  This is a very serious issue in small rural areas of the state.  Volunteering is not as popular as it once was and as the communities grow older in average age, it gets very hard to find new volumteers.  Costs for new equipment are astronomical and fundraising becomes a way of life.  The Lake Harmony Fire Co is currently lookiing to purchase a new ladder truck to replace the old one they have.  It is the only ladder truck in the Township (which has three volunteer fire companies - who support each other as best as possible).  This truck is ecpected to cost between $800,000 and $1,000,000!!  Think about that - a million dollar expenditure for a single piece of equipment in a community with only about 1000 full-time residents but thousands of vacation and rental properties.