A Belated Happy Birthday to Us! - Hal Barber

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

It was June 18, 1948 when a group of 14 men met at William F. Wilgus’ house to form the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company. Thus began a tradition of service to our community that reached sixty years of age in June. We all owe a debt of gratitude to that small group for their vision and concern for the community. They were: James Barker, Sid Bennett, Matthew Gemza, John Hargadine, Carl Lekites, Horace Littleton, Russ Melchoire, Nelson Pepper, George Roberts, Elisha Shockley, Ed Simpson, Wesley Truitt, T. G. Walston and William Wilgus, Jr. Messrs. Wilgus, Gemza, Hargadine, Simpson, Bennett and Pepper went a step further and took on the responsibilities of founding president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, fire chief and chief engineer, respectively. The early going was challenging. The 1948 fund drive netted $390, most of which went to buying “Old Kate”, the company’s first engine, from Selbyville for $300. The next piece of apparatus came from Millsboro in 1949 for $3,000. That same year, the company bought its first property, five lots and a building, from Phil Short for $5,000. Prior to that time, meetings took place in members’ homes and Old Kate was housed in an old stable or Sid Bennett’s garage! Two and a half more lots were purchased in 1962. The original firehouse comprising four bays was built in the early 50’s. Four additional bays were added to the east in 1975. The most recent addition came in 2006 and the result of all these efforts is the facility you see today. To better serve the south end of its fire district, the company expanded south in 1989 by leasing a lot and existing building behind town hall from the Town of Fenwick Island. The one-bay building was shared with the town prior to the town building a new public works building and the fire company expanding the structure to two bays in the mid 1990’s. The most important element of the BBVFC story, however, is its people. Looking at the lists of officers and directors over the last sixty years reveals many long-serving names and several multigenerational families- the Wilguses and the Hickmans are into their third generations while two generations (so far) of the Powells, Murrays, Normans, Martins, Parretts, Bowdens and Pridgeons are or have been members. Without the dedication of these and the many other individuals that have served or that are currently serving, our community would not enjoy the high quality emergency services that it has had for six decades. Please join with us in celebrating this significant milestone in the history of the Quiet Resorts. Hal Barber is secretary and a life member of and a fire police officer with the BBVFC, which he joined in 1973 and for which he served as president from 1978-1996. He is past president of the Sussex County Volunteer Firemen’s Association and a current director of the Delaware Volunteer Firemen’s Association. He is a retired U.S. Navy senior chief petty officer, a former newspaper publisher and is currently the broker-of-record for Tansey-Warner Real Estate and on the board of the Delaware Industrial Accident Board. He and his wife, Dottie, who is a life member of the BBVFC Ladies’ Auxiliary, live in the Bethany Beach area. Hal can be reached at [email protected].