Submitted by Betty Cernan, HVFC Auxiliary.
Members of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company Auxiliary will hold their annual Easter Flower Sale on Friday, April 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, April 3, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please note that this year there is a change in days and hours. The sale takes place outside the Higganum Branch of the Liberty Bank at the Village Plaza, 26 Killingworth Road. Easter lilies, hyacinths, tulips, and other spring plants will be available. This sale supports the Auxiliary Scholarship Fund.
The Flower Sale has been held on an annual basis for over 40 years. Soon after Alice Zanelli joined the Auxiliary in 1977, she suggested that we have an annual Easter Flower Sale as a fundraiser. The first one was held in 1979 in front of the Higganum Country Market. When the Country Market closed several years later, the Sale moved over to its present location in front of the Liberty Bank. Forty years later Alice is still chairing this event.
Back in the early 1980’s, Hollis Burr, a charter member, proposed that the Auxiliary establish a scholarship. Members were very receptive to the idea. It was decided that the applicant must be a graduating senior from Haddam or Higganum who is a member of the Junior Fire Company or a son or daughter of a member of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company or Auxiliary. The first HVFC Auxiliary Scholarship was given in 1982, and, almost 40 years later, Hollis continues to coordinate the scholarship process. Eventually, it was decided that money received from our Flower Sales should be designated for the Scholarship Fund. This has helped to build up the account.
The Auxiliary was established in 1966 to aid our volunteer firefighters. Members provide refreshments during major fires, and they give funds periodically to the fire department to purchase firefighting items. Town residents, 18 years or older, are welcome to join. Meetings are held on the fourth Monday of the month, from September to June except January, at 7 p.m. at the new firehouse. Due to COVID-19, meetings have been held on Zoom, but, hopefully, members will be back to meeting at the firehouse very soon. Members were unable to hold fundraisers last year because of the Coronavirus, but they truly thank the townspeople for all the support given this organization in the past.
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Website: http://www.haddamfire.com/
Photos courtesy of HVFCo Auxiliary.
