The Medina Lake Fire Department drew several hundred citizens to their annual Barbeque Fundraiser on Saturday.
The station house was packed with all manner of residents from the very young to the serious seniors looking for a tasty meal.
The event was packed with hungry citizens who shopped at the garage sale and stayed for the auction and raffle that occurred later in the afternoon.
The barbeque team of MLVFD grill masters cooked 1,200 pounds of brisket and 250 pounds of sausage for the event.
They put the meat on the grill at 1 p.m. on Friday and slow cooked it until 11 a.m. on Saturday, more than 12 hours. Buckhead Meats of San Antonio provided the meat at cost to the Fire Department.
Volunteers served plates packed with a generous portion of tender brisket, succulent sausage, tangy potato salad, beans and fixin’s.
Tea and beer were available to accompany the meal. The dessert bar had a wide variety of sweet treats. A drive-through was provided for those who wanted to pick up lunch and eat at home.
Jim and Debbie Harman, new residents who relocated from Dallas, were excited to attend the event for the first time. They received a mailing from the fire department and decided to “check it out.”
Their enthusiasm and friendliness were typical of all the participants at the barbeque. The Harmans are eagerly exploring the area in their vintage Jeep and learning about the many events available to Hill Country residents.
The Barbeque also had an auction which started at 1 p.m. and a raffle later in the afternoon.
Fire Chief Ben Hicks commented that the planning and preparations for this barbeque started in December when the department began collecting the auction and raffle items.
The raffle items included an AR16, Glock handgun, and JTS semi-automatic shotgun. Other raffle items were a Caterpillar jump start, a day/night vision binoculars with camera, a Samsung 55 inch TV, a $300 gift card, a Ninja Grill, a Samsung Tablet, a Firepit, a Ring 8 alarm and a Centerpoint Sniper Elite crossbow.
Longtime Pebble Beach resident Tommy Adams commented on the exceptional weather for the event.
“It is good that they held the barbeque in an enclosed covered area. The weather is cool and breezy today, but it could have been hot.”
Adams has been coming to Medina Lake since the 1950’s but he bought land in the late 1970’s and built a house in the 1990’s. Now a full time resident Adams volunteers at many area events.
Retired firefighter and businessman Todd Yates stepped out of the barbeque planning this year after working for 10 years to help put on the event. He commented that local, state, and national governments do not provide any kind of funding to local fire departments.
He said this fundraiser provides money for operational expenses like new uniforms, diesel, and maintenance for the trucks.
He praised MLVFD Chief Ben Hicks for his leadership of the Department.
Hicks worked for 26 years in the San Antonio Fire Department as an engineer and maintains a close connection with Medina Lake’s closest neighbor department.
Hicks explained that the money earned from the fundraiser would go toward the department’s operational expenses as well as to expand the department’s station house.
Hicks said that the department wanted to add three more bays to the building and provide more administrative and storage space. He also mentioned that all the fire engines and other department vehicles were paid off and that the department had already purchased the land next door to make the expansion more feasible.
According to Chief Hicks, the Barbeque is one of the only times that the whole department comes together.
He oversees 20 firefighters, half of whom have their paramedic/EMT certificates.
The Department answers between 20 and 25 calls per month, half of which are EMS/first responder calls, and the other half are fire calls.
Hicks noted that the Barbeque had been a local event since 1961. He remembers that the department did two barbecues per year in the past even though they only do one at present.
The Medina Lake Fire Department’s dedication to local safety and community spirit is evident in the support of the community when called to help the department.
The sixty-year-old event is one of the area’s premier times to come out to enjoy excellent barbeque and visit with neighbors while supporting a good cause.
