Appreciation Day Planned For Volunteer Fire Fighters
Posters are popping up across town to promote fire fighter appreciation day scheduled June 1 as (from left) Water Valley Fire Chief Mark McGavock, EMA Director Frank Hyde and Tony Chandler help spread the word.
WATER VALLEY – A special day is scheduled on Saturday, June 1, to show appreciation for the county’s volunteer fire fighters. Yalobusha County Volunteer Fire Fighter Appreciation Day will be held at the Yalobusha Country Club and volunteers and their families are invited to come out and enjoy the day.
“We want volunteer fire fighters and their families to spend the day with us. Their families can spend the day at the pool. We would like for firemen from outside the community to come and support them too,” reported country club manager Tony Chandler, who is helping EMA Director Frank Hyde and Water Valley Fire Chief Mark McGavock coordinate the event.
“We will have a dinner for them at 6 p.m. that night,” Chandler added.
The event is also a fundraiser for the fire departments and the public is invited to get involved in the exciting line-up. A four-man golf scramble gets underway at 8 a.m. The cost is $400 per team. The payout is $1,600 for the winning team, $800 for second place and $400 for third place. A corn hole tournament is also scheduled for $50 per team.
Hamburgers and hotdogs will also be available for $5 a plate from the country club kitchen. An hourly raffle is also on the agenda as well as kids’ events.
The highlight of the event will be a golf ball drop at 5 p.m. Tickets are available for $10 each and a numbered golf ball that corresponds to each ticket will be included in a drop from a helicopter or ladder truck. The ball that lands closest to the bull’s eye will win the ticket-holder $1,000. Tickets for the golf ball drop are available at fire departments in the county. They are also available at the North Mississippi Herald, The Humble Bee Café, Mid-Town Auto Parks, the Yalobusha Country Club, all in Water Valley, and Rebel Arms Co. in Oxford.
Hyde, whose duties as the county’s EMA director include fire coordinator, reported there are almost 150 volunteers on rosters of the 10 fire departments in the county. This includes seven county departments – Velma, Pine Valley, Tillatoba, O’Tuck, Skuna Valley, Clear Springs and Sylva Rena; and three municipal departments, Water Valley, Coffeeville and Oakland.
Hyde also reported that the county has dedicated volunteers who spend countless hours day or night responding to wrecks, fires and other emergencies. Citing activity in recent weeks, he noted a multi-day search for a missing teenager and an overnight search for a possible downed airplane as examples where volunteers logged long hours day and night to help others.
“These guys are vital and we want to extend appreciation for what they have been doing for years,” McGavock said.
“This is a day set aside to say thanks for what you do,” Chandler added.
