Rededication of Volunteer Park!

Below is the speech delivered by Asst Fire Chief Matthew Sams about the history of the Fire department and volunteerism, and how it shaped our community:

Welcome everyone to today’s dedication of Volunteers’ Park! I bet when you think of this beautiful, peaceful place, you don’t immediately associate it with destruction. However, that is in fact partly why we are here today. Let me explain.

You see, way back on June 4, 1900, the home of Dr. Charles Woodward was being destroyed by a raging fire. While there was a “bucket brigade” in town that helped to tame the flames, it wasn’t enough. Eventually, a horse-drawn steam engine was requested from Hightstown via telegraph and sent here by railroad flat car. Unfortunately, the additional help arrived too late to save the home. As a result, this “sparked” the discussion of creating New Egypt’s very own fire company. Why you might ask? Well, the house next door to Dr. Woodward’s home belonged to Senator George L. Shinn. Many were worried the flames would also engulf Senator Shinn’s neighboring home, so they began covering it with wet blankets. Thus, this just goes to show that even over 100 years ago, everyone knew that it’s always good to know a firefighter!

Soon, about a year later, on August 1, 1901 a group of men met at the Francis R. Hope Hardware Store and began organizing the New Egypt Fire Company. The gentlemen of this fledgling department moved quickly, and about 2 weeks later they decided to buy a “fire apparatus” (that was not to exceed $175). Like the generous supporters of today’s fire company standing here today, the community rallied together then, too, to host a dinner and dance to raise funds to help purchase the truck. In fact, just like today’s financially conscious firefighters, they ended up buying their first truck for only $150. What can I say, we love to save money, right?!

Just like this park we are standing in today, the development of our beloved fire company was built from the ground up based on the hard work of firemen and local volunteers. You see, some of the lumber used to build the original firehouse was literally cut down from trees and taken to a sawmill to be turned into lumber by those volunteers! In addition, the land for the building was donated by Senator Shinn himself! What a way to return a favor!

Over time, our community continued to rally behind the newly-developing fire company by hosting their first oyster dinner in 1903, which continued to be a successful fundraiser in the years to follow. The Firemen’s Relief Association was also created around this time, too. Thus, as you can see, time and time again, together The New Egypt Fire Company and the community have come together to make this a safe place to live. In fact, this was also seen, even back in the early 1900s, too, when they began instituting a town fire alarm system that had people throughout the town hitting old “shoes” from locomotive wheels with iron hammers to alert others that there was a fire nearby.

Like all of the amazing people working to volunteer their talents in various ways to support the fire company today, our predecessors were no different. Dinners, raffles, lake carnivals, baseball games, and minstrel shows where common ways money was raised to purchase newer equipment like a chemical engine.

By 1906, the firemen of the time believed it was time to expand the firehouse. An additional bay was added on the south side of the original building, again with generous donations from local people. Thus, as we stand here today in Volunteers’ Park, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that volunteers once again came together to cut down trees, haul logs to the sawmill, and then together build the new bay.

The New Egypt Fire Company has been composed of hard-working, dedicated individuals who have served diligently year after year and generation after generation. Just looking through the officers’ records, the Van Horn family is just one example of how this growing family of firefighters has remained loyal to their service. For example, Nandy Van Horn served as the fire company’s secretary for over 35 years, and Bill Van Horn served as chief for 31 years. With a company like ours, who wouldn’t want to stay forever?!

Not only did the New Egypt Fire Company expand its members and the acquisition of life-saving equipment, such as electric sirens in the firehouse in 1926 and a pumper in 1927, but it also is known as the second-oldest fire company in the county. Clearly, we were ahead of our time in so many ways thanks to so many volunteers just like all of you! In addition, in 1928 The New Egypt Fire Department joined the Ocean County Firemen’s Association.

Throughout the New Egypt Fire Company’s history, volunteerism has been the cornerstone of it all. Again, this was demonstrated in 1960 when firemen and other local volunteers came together to build the present firehouse on Main Street. Eventually, as time passed, fire company equipment became more specialized and thus more expensive. As a result, in 1989, the Board of Fire Commissioners was created to help raise the essential funds to keep the fire company running.

Thank you for joining us for today’s dedication of Volunteers’ Park and for taking a moment to learn about our company’s rich history! Now, I bet when you visit this vibrant place, you will now associate it with volunteerism. If you’ve listened closely, it should be clear that this is truly why we are here to celebrate this moment together, since without all of the volunteers that have worked together with The New Egypt Fire Company, we would not be here today. Thus, thank you for working with us to carry out our mission to serve the residents of New Egypt and Plumsted and to protect their lives and their property. Congratulations to everyone for making this amazing place become a reality for others to enjoy!