Cookout, auction, and community event benefits Quincy Volunteer Fire

Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter
·2 min read
Teams of two Amish draught horses compete to see which can pull the heaviest load the farthest.
Teams of two Amish draught horses compete to see which can pull the heaviest load the farthest.

QUINCY TWP. — Dozens of horses and buggies and gas-powered vehicles parked in the fields along N. Briggs Road Friday evening.

An Amish cookout and auction raised money for the Quincy Volunteer Fire Department’s non-profit Quincy Axes and Irons Association.

Jake Steury and his family and others in the Amish community held the first cookout and auction in 2004. “We just felt we wanted to do something for the fire department. We all need them. We never know when we’ll need them. We appreciate what they do," he said.

Steury opens his farm for the popular event held mostly every odd-numbered year in the fall.

In the Quincy and Butler townships, with approval from the bishops, “The two church districts here, we’re probably close to 80 families, we all kind of help each other and bring the food in,” Steury explained.

The fire association provided the chicken to grill. Added to that were noodles, corn, mashed potatoes, and gravy served cafeteria style.

A table filled with various pies and a cooler of ice cream filled out the meal.

Quincy firefighters Rick Filmore is president of the non-profit Quincy Axes and Irons Association to benefit the volunteer fire department.
Quincy firefighters Rick Filmore is president of the non-profit Quincy Axes and Irons Association to benefit the volunteer fire department.

Groups ate in the large meeting room or under tents outside.

A Quincy fire ladder truck parked by the road drew crowds of kids for up-close looks and demonstrations.

AirCare could not fly in for the event this year as they have in the past.

The big draw this year was an Amish farm pull, pitting teams of two horses pulling a steel sled filled with large 100-pound blocks of concrete.  A couple hundred watched the competition in a field behind the barns.

The larger horses pulled across a 36-foot distance as nearly five tons of weight was added to the sled.  These horses pull plows, wagons, and pre-tractor farm equipment on the working Amish farms.

Prior story Amish Auction Friday to benefit QFD

After the meal, the crowd joined an auction of donated items in one barn.

Association president firefighter Rick Filmore said some of the money raised will train four firefighters at a national program in Indianapolis.

Funds to send three to the three-day classes are in the budget. The benefit will send four more at over $800 each. 

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The firefighters train with actual fires. “There’s classroom instruction. There is live fire training,” Filmore said.

“They go in, stretch hose into a modern house and a fight real fire. They come away with a very good sense of what it’s all about.” Filmore said it’s better than on-the-job training.

Other funds provide fire prevention programs, supplies for Amish schools, fire extinguishers, and contributions to Quincy area community programs.

---Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. 

These horses are used to pull plows and wagons during farming by the Amish families.
These horses are used to pull plows and wagons during farming by the Amish families.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Cookout, auction, and community event benefits Quincy Volunteer Fire