Auxiliary marks century of support for Greensburg firefighters

The monthly dues have increased from a nickel to 25 cents while the membership has dipped from the 34 founders to the current dozen.

Still, after 100 years, the mission remains unchanged for the Ladies Auxiliary of Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department Hose Company No. 8. They raise funds for equipment and capital improvements at the fire hall and serve food and drink to replenish the energy and sweat the firefighters expend battling blazes.

The last such support group among the Greensburg department’s six companies, the auxiliary will mark its century of service on Wednesday.

At one time, several of the auxiliary members performed an extra duty – manning a local Salvation Army canteen truck that provided sustenance to emergency responders at disasters in the region.

They provided support at the scenes of the Flight 93 crash and Quecreek Mine rescue, both in Somerset County.

The crash site was “still smoking when we got there. It was nothing but a hole,” said Helman. But, “we would do it again.”

They provided food to investigators from the FBI and state police as well as police horses. The horses “were level with the truck window,” Vickie Rowe recalled. “We would give them apples.”

Though that Salvation Army unit no longer is based in Greensburg, the Company No. 8 auxiliary continues to feed local firefighters as they work to save lives and property at emergency scenes.

“We try to get them hydrated so they can keep fighting the fire,” said Vickie Rowe. “We knew which of the firemen were diabetic, so you’d get them granola bars.

“When it was freezing cold out and the firemen would be out all night, we would come down and cook them food and have it when they got back to the station.”

Mostly drawn from families of the company’s firefighters, the auxiliary members have formed lifelong friendships.

“Most of the people around here are like family,” said member Vickie Rowe of Greensburg. At fundraising events, she said, “You saw all your neighbors. You knew everybody.”

Seven of the current members are carrying on the legacy of a founding relative. That includes: Rowe; her sister Barbara Vernail; their cousin Betsy Helman, the auxiliary president; and their mother, Jean Rowe, 94. They all have ties to founder Mrs. Edgar T. Helman.

Jean Rowe joined the group of women in 1952, when she married her husband, Wayne Rowe, a longtime Company No. 8 firefighter who died in 2011. Their wedding reception was at the fire hall along Highland Avenue.

She was favorably impressed by the auxiliary. “I liked it,” she said. “They were always busy.”

Over the years, she and fellow members have sold everything from brooms and knives to boxes of gelatin, all to bring in extra dollars for the company.

At a gathering last week, Greensburg Mayor Robert Bell presented a proclamation recognizing the importance of the auxiliary and its 100 years of support.

“We look at them as an arm, an extension of us,” Greensburg Assistant Fire Chief Rick Hoyle said of the auxiliary.

“They give us money to buy masks or nozzles, any equipment we need for our guys to be safe,” said Company No. 8 Captain David Jackson. “They do a wonderful job.”

For many years, the major fundraiser was a weeklong summer carnival featuring bingo and game booths such as a fish pond and dime pitch. That event was dropped after 2010, as the profitability of the carnival and the volunteer labor needed to pull it off declined, according to Vickie Rowe.

But one of the staple foods served at the event has lived on as a major attraction in monthly sales at the fire hall. Shuey Burgers, named after late firefighter Louis Shuey, are known for their fried onion topping.

Vickie Rowe used to help fry the onions under a tent but now does so in a small building– specifically erected next to the fire hall in 1988 for preparation of the burgers, along with hot dogs and french fries.

“I’ve cooked them all my life, but I’ve never been able to peel them,” she said of the tear-inducing onions.

Upcoming burger sales are set for June 10, July 15, Aug. 12 and Sept. 17. The sales begin at 4 p.m. and continue until the food is gone.

The auxiliary also organizes a basket auction that is held in conjunction with a Company No. 8 cash bash.

Loretta Manley, 91, of Greensburg, is another veteran auxiliary member.

Among projects at the fire hall the auxiliary has supported is restoration of its bell tower. It houses a Gamewell Bell Ringing Machine, one of just a half dozen still operating in the United States.

Jean Rowe recalled that her husband, Louis Shuey and the latter’s brother and fellow firefighter, Rick, often slept in the tower “so they could get down to the truck” if an emergency call came in.

It’s expected to cost about $25,000 to complete remaining work on the project, which includes crowning the tower with a cupola and installing lighting and paintings in the stairwell below.

The auxiliary meets the second Thursday of each month, save for a break during the summer.

“We’d like to get back to being more active,” including resuming bake sales, said Vickie Rowe. “We’re getting some younger (firefighters) in now. We’re going to try to recruit some of their wives.”

“You ladies stuck it out and you’re still going strong,” Greensburg fire Chief Tom Bell told the auxiliary members last week. “I hope you have 100 more years.”