Thousands take in Carnation Festival Pump-in & Muster, Kick Off Parade
ALLIANCE − Hunter Cobb has firefighting in his blood.
He was an infant when his father, Lt. Craig Cobb, joined the Alliance Fire Department. Now 23, he has been with the department for four years.
"I been around this my whole life," Hunter Cobb said.
Cobb was in charge of this year's Pump-In and Muster event on Sunday at Glamorgan Castle, part of the 2022 Greater Alliance Carnation Festival. "This is my first year running it."
Thousands of families and individuals came out for the day-long program which included contests, demonstrations and plenty of activities for children.
"It's a great opportunity for the community to come out and see what we do, from all around," Cobb said.
Regrowing participation
Participating in this year's Pump-In were fire departments from Alliance, Sebring, Washington Township, Lexington Township, Marlboro Township and Damascus.
"In the past years, the participation has come down, and I've been really trying hard to get participation back up. COVID had a lot to do with it, I think," Cobb said.
He continued: "This year, we already have more departments here than we did last year."
Stark Fire Department Rehab Unit from Maximo also was present, as were vendors and event sponsor Pauli Electric, Inc. A helicopter from State MedEvac also landed for a short time for people to see.
At 1 p.m., the Pump-In event took a break for the Kick Off Parade that went Union Avenue to Glamorgan Street and ended at the castle.
"They were nice enough to fly out and let everyone see their side of the job is for us," Cobb said.
Will Kinser, a firefighter for Washington Township, was helping children use a fire hose to spray down a "burning" house, one of the many kid-friendly activities.
"The community outreach we can provide, to build that bond with each other, is great," Kinser said. "Some kids might think firefighters are scary in all their gear.
"But, at the end of the day, we're all the same people. And we're just here to have a good time and build relationships with everyone."
So many fire trucks
No less than 15 fire trucks, with sirens blaring, took part in the parade sponsored by The Alliance Review.
The procession also included marching bands and cheerleading squads from Alliance High School and Marlington High School, a color guard and a group of custom Jeeps.
Also, a mobile memorial to those lost in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was part of the parade, brought to the area from Malvern.
Amy Carver of Alliance with her grandchildren came for the Pump-In and the parade. "They loved it," she said.
Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @bduerREP.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Thousands take in Carnation Festival Pump-in & Muster, Kick Off Parade
