HTVFR Fair

Yesterday, Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue held their annual fundraising fair. There were demonstrations, hermit crab races (aptly named NASCRAB), a huge bake sale, tee shirt and hat sales, food tent, silent auctions, and raffle ticket sales with great prizes donated by local businesses. All aspects of this benefit were manned by not only the volunteer firefighters, but also by island homeowners and the Harbour Rats. Dave and I worked in the food tent where the menu consisted of hot dogs and chili dogs (over 500 cooked and sold!), and the local favorite chicken souse with johnny cake. Chicken souse is a close relative to chicken soup, only it is a bit spicier and the bones are actually left in it. Johnny cake is similar to a dense cornbread, and was originally named ‘journey’ cake. The local restaurants all have different versions of both of these recipes, and donated huge pots of souse and pans of johnny cake, which we labeled so the customers had their choice of which recipe they wanted to eat.


The HTVFR members have their jobs cut out for them here. Not only do they respond to fires and medical emergencies on this island and in the harbor, but they also assist with emergencies on other islands and are a part of Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA). Below is a picture of their fire and rescue boat, with our dinghy in the foreground.


The fire trucks are smaller than normal here on Elbow Cay because there are so many narrow roads.

The boy wearing the fire fighters helmet wore it all day at the fair.

Another important facet of the fire department comes into play when there is a hurricane. The volunteers keep a website updated before, during and after the storm to keep everyone informed about what is happening. Following a hurricane or tropical storm, the volunteers check out every house on the island and report on the website asap, any damage to homes. This is a huge job but such a help to so many worried seasonal homeowners who would have no clue what was happening without this service. It truly shows what a close knit community this is and we certainly were glad to help out.