By Woodrow Polston
Members of the Farber Fire Department were joined by citizens and out-of-town visitors for the first Ham and Bean Dinner Fundraiser last week at the Farber Fire Station. The event began at 11 a.m. and was scheduled to run until 2 p.m. One of the organizers, Harold Williams, said that there was a good turnout for the dinner.
“It was excellent,” said Williams. “We probably had about 120 people show up. There were people from all over who came out to support us. A lot of people came from Laddonia, Vandalia and Bowling Green. We put this together after we learned that the fire department in Frankford had done a similar fundraiser that was successful. So after talking with their organizers about how they set it up, we decided to give it a shot here in Farber. All of the food, drinks and condiments were donated by area residents. The dinner was a free-will offering and we raised about $1,400 from the event. The only expense that we had was for advertising the event,” he added.
Out-of-town visitors came from as far away as Frankford to eat lunch and socialize after church services had dismissed. Farber Mayor Tony Shade said that all of the proceeds from the dinner will go to the fire department.
“all donations will go toward equipment costs for the fire department,” said Shade. We have had a lot of people show up for this today and we really appreciate the support that the community has shown for our volunteer firefighters here in Farber. Not only locally, but all those who traveled here to be with us today,” he added.
While there is nothing yet officially scheduled for spring, Williams said that there may be a few things in the works.
“We might be doing our Pancake and Sausage Breakfast in March. It has been a big hit in the past and was always well attended. We have also talked about doing a chili supper but nothing has been decided and no dates have been announced yet,” said Williams.