VFD Water battle

Tonight, the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Department sponsored a water battle.  For those of you not familiar, this is basically tug of war - except instead of rope, the fireman use the water in their hoses - and instead of tugging, they push.  The object they push is a large red keg suspended in the sky on heavy duty wire.  

The children (and adults) lined the streets to watch the local fire departments battle it out.  It was a gorgeous evening for it and I was so glad I brought my camera to take pictures of the event.  

Here is just a few of my favorite pictures.  If you'd like to see more, check them out at www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferschwalm

How cute are these brothers?  They were so excited to watch - and were hoping to get a little wetter than they did.

I thought this was a cool one of the firemen and the rainbow.
This fireman is charging ahead - he had gotten a good start on pushing that keg to the opposing side.
What is cuter than little girls splashing in the puddles?
Shaking hands after a match.
This guy was ready.  He knew how to handle his hose.  
More kids frolicking in the water.

This guy is in charge of moving the keg into place before each battle.






I love living in a rural area.  Especially this little Saxonburg community.  I wish that we truly had a Saxonburg address so we could officially be affiliated with this fun little community.  There's really nothing better than small town America.  Everyone cheered for their local fire department, there was laughter and a sense of comradarie - these guys not only have to trust their own co-workers, but they know that they can call any one of the seven fire departments there to compete to help them battle a blaze.  People underestimate how much work and sacrifice goes into manning and keeping a volunteer fire department.  In communities such as ours, where you have so much rural land and countryside to deal with, knowing how to fight a fire properly is so important.  And in our little neck of the woods, we rely soley on volunteers to fight those fires.  Kudos to all the volunteer fireman and firewomen out there.  I am very grateful for these rural departments and for their equipment.  And I had a great time watching them battle it out where it didn't really matter.  It was a lot of fun!