| Greenfield puts on celebration for annual Fire Prevention Week |
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Posted: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 12:00 pm
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By KEVIN BOWDEN
Special to The Press
For the past 24 years, Greenfield’s annual Fire Prevention Festival has educated thousands about the importance of fire prevention in an entertaining way. This year’s festival, held last week, continued the tradition in grand fashion.
“Everything was great,” Greenfield Fire Chief Bob Dudley said. “Everything turned out wonderful.”
It was a busy week last week for Dudley and other organizers of the Greenfield Fire Department’s 24th Annual Fire Prevention Festival. (See related photos, Page 2.)
The fire prevention fes-tival was started by Dud-ley, who has served as Greenfield’s fire chief since 1998. He succeeded his father, W.H. “Bill” Dudley, who served as fire chief for 60 years.
Dudley said the Green-field Fire Department used to participate in a similar event in Fulton and South Fulton’s Banana Festival but, when that event was canceled, he decided to put on a fire prevention festival in Greenfield.
The Greenfield festival has grown into a major celebration that attracted an estimated crowd of more than 2,500 to town this past weekend, according to Dudley.
Among the events held this past Saturday was an open house at the Greenfield Fire Department. On hand for the open house was Smokey Bear and Fire Pup, and youngsters were given free firetruck rides.
For adults, there were free blood pressure checks and the LIFELINE Bloodmobile was set up on site.
Exhibitors had fire safety items such as smoke detectors, extinguishers and collectibles for sale and the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department was on hand to fingerprint children younger than age 12.
Other agencies that participated in the festival were the Tennessee Division of Forestry, Air Evac Lifeteam and local Tennessee National Guard units.
In addition to a helicopter from Air Evac Lifeteam, there was also a climbing wall set up Saturday and a bagpipe band performed during a parade held Saturday afternoon.
In attendance at Satur-day’s festivities were fire departments from two states (Kentucky and Tennessee), more than 40 emergency vehicles and more than 85 entries in the parade, according to Dudley.
The Greenfield Fire Prevention Festival even prompted Greenfield merchants to hold a sidewalk sale Saturday and there were several concession stands as well as bake sales along Front Street during the day.
Published in The WCP 10.16.12 |
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