2015 ROCKLAND COUNTY FIREMAN’S PARADE

Dear Friends,

It is with great pride that I put pen to paper and share in the joy of the 100^th anniversary of our volunteer fire company, Volunteer Hose Co. 2, West Haverstraw, N.Y. Volunteer Hose has proudly protected and served the residents, businesses and guests of our village for almost a century long. We are extremely fortunate; to have been able, for almost 100 years, find men and women whom are willing to volunteer their time to put their own lives on hold, on the line and at times in extreme danger and peril. We consider it a major feat, not only to have competent, loyal, hardworking volunteer firefighters, many of whom answer the call to duty, sometimes leaving their family during dinner, holidays, kids sporting events and at all hours of the night (sometimes for hours on end), but also make time to attend a myriad of countless hours of training to stay abreast of the ever changing fire service.

What used to just consist of “putting the wet stuff on the hot stuff” (water on the fire), has now evolved into classes and training on today’s manufactured products, to the different synthetics and how they burn hotter and faster to new building materials and designs that can be a firefighters worst nightmare causing serious injuries and/or death. Through it all, we still find dedicated men and women to volunteer, when the alarm is sounded for emergency assistance, they come running to help. In our village, there are approximately 10,290 residents.  Our volunteer fire company which responds to structural fires, vehicle accidents, hazardous materials incidents, calls for assistance from the police department and much more, consists of only 52 volunteers. It is with great pride that we have been able to sustain an all-volunteer organization for almost 100 years.

Keeping the aforementioned in mind, our company will be celebrating our 100 year anniversary by hosting the Rockland County Volunteer Fireman’s Association Parade on September 19 of this year. There will be fire companies from throughout the Tri State area attending the parade and thousands of spectators lining the parade route. Such an undertaking is very costly to an all-volunteer organization and we are respectfully requesting donations to help us make this event a success. We thank you in advance for your assistance, support and generous donation as we prepare to celebrate  our 100^th year of dedicated service and saving lives of the residents, businesses and guests of the Village of West Haverstraw.

Firematically Yours,

Mike Dolan,

President, Volunteer Hose Co. 2,

West Haverstraw, N.Y.