Justin Strawser
The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
(TNS)
Jun. 26—LEWISBURG — The William Cameron Engine Company kicks off its 150th anniversary this weekend by being the grand marshals of the 2024 Union County Veterans’ 4th of July Celebration parade on Saturday.
The William Cameron Engine Company, established in 1874 will be the guests of honor during the 4th of July Gala Parade that starts at 10 a.m. Saturday. The 2024 Union County Veterans’ 4th of July Celebration kicks off on Friday with a concert and fireworks display.
“Being selected to be the grand marshal is truly an honor,” said Fire Chief James Blount. “What we do is not for recognition. We spend a lot of time focusing on community involvement and giving back. Having the opportunity to serve for the 150th symbolizes the dedication and commitment and recognition of the men and women who over the last 150 years helped develop our fire department into what it is today. It’s not an honor that I expected.”
William Cameron’s primary coverage area is Lewisburg and East Buffalo Township along with about half of Kelly Township, about one-third of Buffalo Township and, across the Susquehanna River, about half of West Chillisquaque Township in Northumberland County.
The station is located at 11 Buffalo Road and the administrative offices at 239 N. Fifth St. in Lewisburg. The building on Fifth Street houses the Chief Robert Stackhouse Training Center, the Liddick-Stephens Museum, administrative offices, and equipment and supply storage.
Among the historic relics, photographs and documents in Liddick-Stephens Museum is the original steam engine and one of three hose carts from 1874. The museum is by appointment only.
“As someone who has spent the vast majority of their life in the fire service, you can feel the history as you walk in the door of the museum,” said Blount. “It’s a very humbling and amazing feeling.”
Origin of the fire company
The first organized fire department in Lewisburg started in 1831, but struggled over the next 13 years. Wealthy businessman and banker William Cameron, who established the Lewisburg Savings Institution in 1853, which later became the Lewisburg National Bank made a gift of $10,000 in 1874 to the borough of Lewisburg for the purchase of Silsby Steam Fire Engine together with three reel hose carriages, according to fire company records.
Assistant Chief Harold “J.R.” Erdley, a firefighter of 50 years, said $10,000 is roughly the modern equivalent of $225,000.
The steam engine and carriages were “an opportunity to make a gift which would be appreciated by all, the wealthy and the poor,” Cameron said while presenting his donation. “On close inquiry I found the citizens could receive nothing that would give them more real pleasure or lasting benefit than a steam fire engine and the necessary accompaniments. From the large outpouring of the people on this occasion and the very many expressions of kindness, I believe the people are satisfied, and my heart is rejoiced to feel that this is the case.”
The fire company was named in Cameron’s honor, according to fire company records.
The pumper was built by the American Fire Engine Company of Seneca Falls and Cincinnati and registered as Number 607. It was horse-drawn, according to fire company records.
Successful equipment
The new equipment was successful in the borough. The Lewisburg Chronicle on Feb. 20, 1874, reported the “beautiful machine was thoroughly and most efficiently tested” as it “threw a stream of water 10 feet above the Baptist Church steeple, and that piece of architecture is 174 feet, 4 inches above the earth.”
The steamer was used to aid Milton firefighters battling the Great Milton Fire in 1885 and the Lewisburg flood of 1936. After several refurbishments and repairs, the steamer’s life ended when a shaft broke while pumping water from flooded basements on South Sixth Street in 1940, according to fire company records.
The steam engine remained in service until 1940. It was stored in the fire house until the 1970s, but then moved to a carriage house at 201 S. Market St., Lewisburg, which was the former home of William Cameron and the site of the borough’s first bank. At the time, the home was owned by noted historian Betty Cook, who was heavily involved in the community and was a founding member of the Union County Veterans 4th of July Celebration Committee and Slifer House Museum Board of Directors.
Donated back
When the training center and museum building were renovated in 1999, the steam pumper and one of the hose carriages were moved back and placed on display. The hose cart was refurbished by Kenneth Reish, a Lewisburg electrical contractor and appliance retailer, and donated back to the company in honor of his father, Alfred “Fred” T. Reish, the last engineer to operate the steamer. The fate of the other two hose carts is unknown, according to fire company records.
“This is a small facility, but to have these from the 1800s right here in Lewisburg so that people can come and see, it doesn’t happen,” said Erdley. “It gets regulated to the corner or shoved off to a museum. We’re very fortunate that people took the bull by the horns and created a space like this.”
Event information
The William Cameron Engine Company has 30 volunteer and 25 career staff. Active members and past members have been invited to participate in Saturday’s parade. The Greater Buffalo Firefighters Pipes and Drums Band will escort the firefighters and dozens of other fire apparatus through the parade route, said Erdley.
The celebration begins on Friday at the Wolfe Field in Lewisburg. Starting at 7 p.m., locally owned and operated McDonald’s Restaurants is sponsoring a free two-hour concert by The Becky Blue Band. After the concert, Markets and USA Life, America’s Insurance Company, will sponsor the annual fireworks display. Bixler Pyrotechnics designs and launches the 100 percent computerized show using the same firing system as Disney World, said Terry Burke, president of the Union County Veterans’ 4th of July Committee.{/span}
Rain dates for the fireworks event are Saturday or Sunday.
The parade, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday in downtown Lewisburg, starts with a scheduled flyover by “Thunderpig.” The Fairchild C-123 -Provider is being flown by the men and women from the Air Heritage Aviation Museum in Beaver Falls in dedication for all of those who served in South East Asia during the time of the Vietnam War. “Thunderpig” was built in 1956 and has three movies and two television appearances on its resume, said Burke.
Among the ten other bands scheduled to perform is the Dover-Eyota High School Marching Band from Eyota, Minnesota. The parade will have more than 100 veterans participating as well as first responders, community groups and difference-makers in the communities, said Burke.
Along the parade route look out for the two special locomotive engines. The North Shore Railroad Company & Affiliates (NSHR) will have its two Military Units parked in Hufnagle Park for public viewing. The new paint and artwork on LVRR 9052 (Veterans Unit) and LVRR 9050 (Memorial Unit) were unveiled in May. For more than two years, NSHR worked behind the scenes to prepare the locomotives for their dedication to United States military service members, said Burke.
After the parade, Hufnagle Park will feature more music by bands and plenty of food vendors, said Burke.
Other celebrations
In addition to being the parade marshals on Saturday, the William Cameron Engine Company plans to celebrate their 150th anniversary with an event at the Campus Theatre in Lewisburg on Oct. 5. Following a film related to fire fighting, the department will give a fire safety message and a brief history of the fire company.
The fire company is also working with last year’s parade grand marshal, Judy Silverstein Gray, co-author of “Unwavering: The Wives Who Fought to Ensure No Man is Left Behind.” Silverstein Gray, the daughter of Lewisburg resident Neda Gray, will be working on a 150th anniversary book in honor of the fire company.
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