(10/16) The National Fire Heritage Center
is ready to start adding members to its group.
During the group’s annual meeting on Oct.
6 at the Vigilant Hose Company, President Ronny Coleman said, “We don’t have
any members yet. All we have is a board.”
By the end of the meeting, the directors
and officers had remedied that by establishing the costs and levels of
membership so that member rosters could begin being filled.
Members who join during the next year will
be considered charter members of the organization. Coleman is hoping to get at
least 250 charter members. Members can join at five different levels for an
annual membership fee of $25, $50, $100, $250 or $500 or more.
Secretary Wayne Powell said that the
Frederick County fire departments are also contributing $500 a piece in
one-time donations to show their support of the NFHC.
“The town has also been supporting us in a
variety of ways,” Powell said. “They’ve been absolutely wonderful.”
One reason the executive board wanted to
start soliciting members was that revenues need to be generated to renovate the
old Emmitsburg Ambulance building so that the rear area can be used as the
temporary home for the NFHC. The organization also needs to begin contributing
$2,000 a year to Frederick County government to pay its share of the building
upkeep.
Vice President William Killen has also
written a new book called Firefighting with Henry’s Model T. He is donating
revenue from the book to six different charities, including the NFHC. He made
his first donation of $250 during the annual meeting. The book is available
currently at www.BillKillen.net.
Once the ambulance building is ready to
become the NFHC, it won’t lack for material.
“There isn’t anything like it anywhere in
the world and the interest has been phenomenal,” Powell said.
Eventually the goal of the center is to
have all of the materials it contains available electronically.
For more information, visit
nationalfireheritagecenter.com.
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