Saturday - Meeting and Grand Parade

Another beautiful day in Upper Sandusky shining down on the NOVFA convention.  The delegates and officers assemble to take care of business.  Besides business, the convention meeting has a memorial service for all member departments that have experienced deaths of current and retired firefighters.  A drum and bagpipe group came from Toledo to participate.  After a the business at hand, a past president's luncheon is held before the grand parade steps off at 1:30 pm.

Over a 140 units have registered for the parade.  There are marching bands, twirlers, floats, and of course, fire trucks!  Awards are given to the newest truck, the oldest truck, the oldest equipment (non-motorized), bands and twirling groups.  The weather forecast calls for some showers in the afternoon.

  But the sun stayed out during the whole parade!  It wasn't until the awards ceremony that the clouds quickly moved through and "dumped" buckets of rain on the festivities.  According to weather radar, these were fast moving storms, and just postponed activities for a couple hours.  The only event cancelled was the hot air balloon lift off. 

One very interesting activity tried for the first time was the firefighter's challenge.  Following a course, firefighters were given the opportunity to show off their skills - agility, strength, and speed.  First, challengers carried hose through an obstacle course, then carried a charged hose a few yards through doors to put out a "fire" on the other side.  It was on to the "axe" and a simulation of chopping a hole in a roof to ventilate a fire.

  This involved using a sledge hammer to move a railroad tie a certain distance.  A 250 pound dummy carried to the finish line completed the challenge.  Teams and individuals competed with the Upper Sandusky Fire Department #1 taking the top prize in the team event.  A firefighter from Wyandot East was first in the individual competition.  The fastest time was recorded by one of the Upper firemen who completed the course in 1:41!  Good Job Guys!  This event showed the general public how tough firefighters must be. 

The evening concluded with a free concert by the Parrots of the Caribbean - a Jimmy Buffett tribute band.  They played to a packed house in the entertainment tent until 11:30 pm. 

Cleanup began, and after a couple hours, it was determined that the rest of the stuff could be finished on Sunday.  The guys were beat, and most hadn't had a lot of sleep over the past 72 hours.  The results of the weekend were all positive!  There were no incidents, no severe injuries, and everyone had a good time!  Business reported favorable sales throughout the weekend.  City leaders were pleased, and the cooperation of the residents was superb!  All in all - SUCCESS!