Franklin raises money with community block party
Many residents had a fun-filled weekend at the Franklin Township fire company’s 40th annual block party.
The two-day event included food, games for all ages, a clown, bingo, a bake sale, a 50/50, raffles and a basket raffle of over 200 prizes. All proceeds from the block party went toward the fire company including fire equipment, building renovations and bills.
The block party began Friday evening with a seafood dinner and a musical performance by the band Mystery City.
On Saturday, performances included The Sabo School of Irish Dance, The Bassments and Supersonic Godfathers.
Aside from musical performances, attendees could also participate in or watch the traditional garden tractor pull on Saturday. The event concluded with a fireworks display Saturday night.
One attendee was local resident Alycia Hartman of Palmertion, who came to the event with her husband, son, sister-in-law and niece.
She said that her favorite part of the event was the food, noting that she enjoyed the chicken barbeque, pierogies and ice cream the most.
Hartman praised the fire company for their efforts in serving the community.
“I just think it’s great what they’re doing for the community and it’s very nice to have a local fire company that helps us out.”
Chris Lilly, president of the fire company’s ladies auxiliary, said she had grown up in Franklin Township and that she had been involved with the fire company since 1976.
She said that despite the many years the block party had been taking place, not much had changed and community support had only continued to grow in size over the years.
Throughout the pandemic, Lilly said the fire company did not “lay down and die.” They continued to do all they could to provide for the community including making takeout meals and having cookie sales.
Lilly said the community support truly helped the fire company persevere through the pandemic, thanking them for this continued support.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their support. They’ve been great through the whole pandemic and they’re still great giving us the support for the block party. They’ve given us a lot of information about what they like and we’ve tried to stick with that because we are here to serve.”
A few upcoming fire company events include a Dine and Donate event at P.J. Whelihans on Aug. 11, a yard sale Aug. 20-22 and bingo every Thursday (except Aug. 12 and 19).
For more information on future Franklin Township fire company events, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ftvfc4.