Hanover Fire Departments are hosting open houses at three of the four stations this evening.
Paul Wiebe from the Hanover Fire Department says they will go on from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm in Grunthal, Kleefeld, and Blumenort.
“Starting at Station 1 in Grunthal, we'll have all sorts of things for kids, including truck rides, colouring, letting kids run wild on the trucks and apparatuses, and play with some of the tools, under supervision of course. And coffee, doughnuts, juice for the kids, and it'll just be a really good time there.”
He shares that Station 2 in Kleefeld will look similar to Grunthal.
“Coffee and doughnuts. The firefighters have built a bit of a firefighter maze for the kids to play around in, and a lot of water activities, hopefully it's not too cold.”
Wiebe continues, “Then moving on to Station 4 in Blumenort. They'll also have coffee, doughnuts, and snacks for the kids, but they'll be doing a vehicle extrication demo, and we're looking at some fire truck rides as well, so it’s a lot of fun for the whole family. And of course, having the snacks, getting those kids full of sugar and energy for one night of the year shouldn't be too bad.”
Steinbach Fire Department will also be hosting their open house from 6 pm to 8 pm and attendees can see the station, visit with the firefighters, and sit in the trucks while enjoying a hotdog and drink for $4.00.
All proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
Events like this are fun for the community and also so important to the firefighters.
“They love putting them on, they love seeing the kids enjoying themselves. The last few years we've gone through Covid, we had cancelled a couple of years and that was really tough. But we've ramped them up again and we're really looking forward to tonight,” Wiebe shares.
He explains that a lot of the firefighters have kids and will join them this evening.
“Our firefighter families make up about half of the of the kids that are involved. So, it's really good to see. It means our future is bright.”
The open houses are a great place to gain more information on how to volunteer at the station.
“We're always looking to add to our numbers at certain times of the year. So, when we get people interested, just talk to one of our firefighters, they'll give you the information that you need to make those decisions. It's a big commitment to start and to get the get the training, but it's really worth it.”
Join Grunthal, Kleefeld, or Blumenort for some fun while learning more about firefighters and their importance in the community!
-With files from Kenton Dyck