DANVILLE - The 108th Six-County Firemen's Association convention will be held Thursday through Saturday and will be sponsored by the nine fire companies of the Montour County Riverside Firemen's Association - Continental Fire Company, Friendship Fire Company, Goodwill Hose Company, Washington Hose Company No. 2, East End Fire Company, Liberty Township Fire Company, Southside Fire Company No. 1, Valley Township Fire Company and Washingtonville Volunteer Fire Company.
The convention will open at 9 a.m. Thursday with delegates meeting at the Washington Hose Company No. 2, 400 1/2 Railroad St. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. The ladies auxiliary will meet at the East End Fire Company, 1344 Bloom Road, at 9 a.m.
Donald Kunkle, retired fire chief of the City of Harrisburg, will speak to the delegates in the morning and Karen Flannery, fire safety officer of Luzerne County Community College, will speak in the afternoon. Nominations of officers will be held during the afternoon session.
On Thursday evening, the convention banquet will be held at the Washington Hose Company beginning at 6:30 p.m. Guest speaker for the affair will be Pennsylvania State Fire Commissioner Edward Mann.
The convention will reopen at 9 a.m. Friday. At 11:15 a.m., a memorial service will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, 215 E. Market St. The Rev. Michael Greenauer, who also serves as the Danville Fire Department chaplain, will officiate.
In the afternoon, officers will be sworn in and the association's flag will be presented to Mount Carmel, site of the 2012 convention. Next year's convention will be co-hosted by Mount Carmel's Anthracite Steam Fire Company No. 1 and Park Row Hose Company No. 3 of Wallington, N.J.
The convention parade will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, rain or shine. Seventy plaques along with cash prizes totaling $2,575 will be awarded to companies and units at 6 p.m. Food and refreshments will be available after the parade at the Washington Hose Company and the band "Beef" will perform.
The committee will sell souvenir tee shirts and mugs throughout the convention and a 2012 Ford Mustang will be raffled off following the parade.
Convention officers are Chris Dickinson, Continental Fire Company, chairman; John Reilly, Friendship Fire Company, vice-chairman; Deanna Force, Goodwill Hose Company and Southside Fire Company No. 1, secretary, and Michael Kull, Valley Township Fire Company, treasurer.
The first convention was held from June 2 to 4, 1904, at the Diamond Fire Company No. 1 in Hazelton when fire companies from Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties organized the Four-County Firemen's Association. Montour and Northumberland counties were added in 1906 and the association's name was changed to reflect the addition. Eight men from Danville have served as presidents. The ladies auxiliary was formed in 1926 in Shamokin. Three ladies from Danville have served as its presidents.
Current association officers are Donald Leshko, Hazelton, president; John Nilles, Hazelton, secretary; Joseph Simonovich, Warrior Run, treasurer; Deanna Force, Danville, 1st vice-president; Robert Leshko, McAdoo, 2nd vice-president; Amanda Stancavage, Shamokin, 3rd vice-president; R.J. Savage, Bloomsburg, 4th vice-president; Gerald Guscott, Hazelton, 5th vice-president, and Robert Mandak, Sr., Hazelton, chaplain.