PHOTOS: Long years of dedicated service are nothing new in the 125-year history of the Mt. Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department.
Take, for example, fire Chief Paul Harenchar, who has been a member of the firefighting organization for 41 years, or Bill Hare and Dave Bert — each with three decades or more of service, which includes caring for the department’s 109-year-old antique fire engine. “It was our first motorized piece of equipment,” Hare said of the 1915 American LaFrance engine. “It was brand new when it was purchased by the First Ward Hose Company. It’s a department truck now.”
Restored to its past glory, the LaFrance truck still takes part in an occasional ceremonial detail. Its latest foray will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, when it will have a prominent role in the department’s 125th anniversary parade along Main Street.