More than 200 dozen eggs, 150 pounds of sausage, 18 gallons of OJ, a dozen gallons of milk, coffee for an army and gallons of syrup and enough pancake mix to make hundreds and hundreds of pancakes! The grocery list is staggering for t he Jefferson volunteer fire department’s annual breakfast, served up the Saturday morning of the Bell Tower Festival for more than 20 years. The breakfast is served at the fire station on the north side of city hall, at the corner of E. Washington and N. Chestnut St.
Prep starts at 3 am so everything is ready for the first customers at 6 am. The hearty breakfast, cooked and served by the 28 members of the all-volunteer force, is a favorite of the Festival crowd — last year almost 800 people stopped in between 6 and 10 am on Saturday, just before the parade.
Chief Randy Love, a member of the force since 1995, said of that crowd “the line was out the door most of the morning. We only had five pounds of sausage left of the 150 that we ordered.”
Officer (first lieutenant) James Carman chimed in, “it’s our funnest fundraiser of the year!” Last years’ proceeds were used to purchase a metal and concrete saw, vehicle stabilizer kit and communication equipment. More specialized equipment is on this year’s wish list: wild land gear and air compressor upgrade for more capacity to fill the tankers quickly.
Breakfast is just a part of the firefighters’ contribution to a successful Festival. The volunteers also use their tankers to wash down the streets, and all four units and most of the men are a part of the parade. Several have other related duties with the Kiwanis, other organizations or their regular work place.
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About the Jefferson fire department: The department responded to approximately 100 calls in 2013, ranging from grass fires, structure fires, hazmat calls, accidents, missing persons, and even a cat in a tree. Firefighters’ “day jobs” run the gamut: Love is a technician at Jefferson Telecom; Carman owns and operates a tree service; Robert Lawson is a parts manager at Harrison RV, Jack Williams is a deputy sheriff, Dean Promes is a power company lineman and Derek Bauer is co-owner of Tri-County Lumber.
Being a volunteer, training and team work is important – and training and teamwork is what makes doing breakfast for a crowd fun. Love extends an invitation: “We invite everybody to come on in and enjoy breakfast with us.”
