PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
CHIEFS … Archbold Assistant Fire Chief Kyle Brodbeck, Caleb Liechty, Bekah Liechty, Joshua Liechty and Fire Chief Dave Davis, from left, stand beside the department’s aerial ladder truck.
CROWD … A portion of the crowd watches Girl Named Tom perform at Woodland Park. Well over 1,000 people attended the evening concert.
HOUSE … A young girl uses a fire hose to knock down simulated flames during one of the children’s firefighting activities at the Archbold Fire Department’s open house.
GIRL NAMED TOM … Girl Named Tom performs during the Archbold Fire Department’s 150th anniversary celebration at Woodland Park.
DOOR POP … Archbold firefighters use rescue tools to “pop” one of the vehicle’s rear doors during an extrication demonstration.
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
The Archbold Fire Department marked 150 years of service with three days of gatherings, demonstrations and entertainment that brought together past and present members, their families and the community they serve.
Friday Gathering At Sauder Village
The celebration began Friday, Aug. 7, with an event for current and former department members and their families at Sauder Village.
More than 100 people had registered for the gathering, including relatives of firefighters who had passed away.
Antique fire apparatus and a historical presentation assembled by Assistant Chief Kyle Brodbeck helped tell the department’s story, but the gathering also gave members from different generations time to reconnect and share memories from their years of service.
Saturday Parade Through The Village
The anniversary then opened to the wider community Saturday morning, Aug. 8, with a parade that began at Archbold High School and traveled along Lafayette Street, South Defiance Street and West Mechanic Street before ending at the fire station.
Residents lined the route as fire trucks and other vehicles passed through the village, with participants throwing candy to children along the way.
Fire departments from neighboring communities also joined the procession to help Archbold recognize the milestone.
Girl Named Tom, the Pettisville sibling trio of Bekah, Joshua and Caleb Liechty, rode aboard Archbold’s aerial ladder truck during the parade.
The siblings later rode the aerial ladder up into the air, receiving the same view of Archbold offered to community members during the department’s open house.
“We were excited to be up at 100 feet,” Joshua Liechty said. Caleb Liechty added, “Archbold looks good up at 95 feet.”
The trio, which became the first group to win NBC’s “The Voice” when it captured Season 21, returned later that evening to headline the anniversary concert at Woodland Park.
For Bekah Liechty, performing during the celebration provided another opportunity for the siblings to return to the area where they grew up.
“It’s such an honor to be back in our hometown,” she said. “We love this area so much. We would not be who we are without this place, so to come back means a lot to us.”
She said being asked to perform during such an important occasion made the appearance especially meaningful for the group. “We’re so excited to help the community celebrate,” Caleb Liechty added.
Open House At The South Side Station
Before the evening concerts, much of Saturday was centered at the Archbold Fire Department’s South Side Station.
The open house allowed visitors to see the station, explore the department’s equipment and meet firefighters and emergency medical personnel outside of the emergencies that ordinarily bring residents into contact with them.
Activities included tours of the department’s training facility, a CPR demonstration, aerial ladder rides, Touch-a-Truck opportunities, photographs with firefighters and a vehicle-extrication demonstration using the Jaws of Life.
A large number of visitors moved through the station and activity areas throughout the day, continuing the turnout that had begun along the parade route that morning.
The celebration then shifted to Woodland Park at 4 p.m., where food vendors, a beer tent, an inflatable jungle maze and a bounce house were among the activities available. Garrett Grime opened the live music at 5 p.m., followed by Distant Cousinz at 6 p.m.
Brodbeck Reflects On 150 Years
By the time Girl Named Tom took the stage at 8:30 p.m., the audience had grown to well over 1,000 people.
Before introducing the trio, Brodbeck reflected on what 150 years of emergency service represented beyond the anniversary itself.
He said there was no way to count all the lives saved, fires extinguished, property protected or people comforted by Archbold firefighters and emergency medical personnel since the department’s beginning.
“Do we save a life every time the pager goes off? Absolutely not,” Brodbeck said. “But do we make a difference every single time? Absolutely, yes.”
He said people calling 911 were often experiencing one of the most frightening or overwhelming moments of their lives.
Even when responders could not change everything about the situation, they could provide reassurance, restore some order and make that moment easier.
“Every call we go on is an opportunity to make someone’s worst moment just a little bit better,” Brodbeck said. “And that is what this department has done for a century and a half.”
Brodbeck also recognized the department’s current members and the spouses and family members who support them.
Members and their families wore safety-orange shirts during the celebration, making it easier for visitors to identify and speak with them.
He noted that residents normally encounter firefighters and emergency medical personnel during moments of crisis, while the anniversary offered an opportunity to meet them under much different circumstances.
Longtime Members Recognized
Brodbeck read through the department’s current membership, recognizing the firefighters and EMTs along with the training and certifications they had completed or were pursuing.
Among those recognized was Gary Esterline, who joined Archbold Fire in 1973 and has served the department and community for more than 53 years.
Ada Davis, a full-time firefighter and paramedic who joined in 1990, was also recognized as she prepared to retire at the end of August.
Members of the volunteer steering committee that organized the weekend were thanked as well.
Planning had begun more than a year and a half before the celebration, with the committee carrying out Chief Dave Davis’ vision for an anniversary that would include the community as well as department members.
A Drone Show And A Sunday Finale
Girl Named Tom’s performance then brought the concert portion of the evening to a close at 10 p.m. The crowd turned its attention to the sky as a drone show presented by Open Sky Drone Show concluded Saturday’s activities.
The anniversary weekend ended Sunday, Aug. 9, with a combined gathering at Ruihley Park organized by the Archbold Fire Department and the Village of Archbold.
The event connected the department’s 150th anniversary with the national celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Together, the three days allowed the department to recognize its history, reunite the people who helped shape it and welcome the public into the celebration.
From 1876 To Nearly 1,200 Calls A Year
The department traces its beginning to 1876, when Archbold was still a young village and firefighting relied on hand-operated equipment and the manpower of residents willing to help.
Its responsibilities and equipment have changed dramatically since then, with emergency medical calls now accounting for much of the department’s workload and annual call totals approaching 1,200.
Despite those changes, the weekend’s events repeatedly returned to the same idea: the department’s history cannot be separated from the residents, families and neighboring emergency agencies that supported it.
Saturday’s crowds, from those lining the parade route to the more than 1,000 gathered for the evening concerts, gave Archbold Fire an opportunity to thank that community, and the community to thank them, while marking the generations of service that brought the department to its 150th year.
