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Falls Village celebrates 100 years of volunteer emergency responders

Falls Village celebrates 100 years of volunteer emergency responders

Fire Chief Matt Hansen led the FVVFD crew into the tent during the department’s 100th birthday gala.

Patrick L. Sullivan

FALLS VILLAGE — The Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department held a gala Saturday evening, June 22, at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. It was part of the ongoing celebration of the department’s 100th anniversary.

The fire department used the same tent that didn’t get used on Friday, June 14 for the HVRHS graduation because of the threat of thunderstorms.

Just before the event began, a sudden blast of wind blew all the table decorations everywhere and the whole thing had to be set up again.

A bit after the scheduled starting time of 6 p.m. the weather had returned to a sullen, still heat.

This didn’t seem to bother anybody, as the attendees got at the drinks and hors d’oeuvres, kidded each other about their neckties, and told stories.

Falls Village First Selectman Dave Barger and Kent Allyn at the FVVFD 100th birthday celebration.Patrick L. Sullivan

State Representative Maria Horn (D-64) and State Senator Stephen Harding (R-30) were both on hand, greeting each other amiably and talking with their constituents.

Les Fleming took the word “gala” seriously. He was wearing proper evening dress. Corinne Fleming said the couple have a wedding to attend later this summer, so they thought they’d give the tuxedo a test run.

The fire department members were herded out of the tent and to the steps in front of the school for a group photo.

Then Andrea Downs and Thom WIlson called them into the tent, one by one, starting with Fire Chief Matt Hansen, and they all lined up on the dance floor, pretty much filling it.

To honor the century celebration, there are some items of interest regarding the fire department on display at the Falls Village-Canaan Historical Society.

Put together by Bill Beebe and Tracey Wilson, they include a jacket and helmet from the 1970s, and a bass drum and photograph of the department’s marching band in 1956, with 31 people in the image.

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.

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