Rain can’t extinguish fire engine muster

Benny Gold excitedly led his father by the hand from exhibit to exhibit Saturday inside the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall and Museum of Kingston, where his family was a respite from the rains before venturing out again to explore some of the antique fire trucks that were lining Fair Street.

Of all the displays, the 3-year-old son of Josh and Courtney Gold of Hurley, said, hand-down, his favorite was the fire trucks.

The Golds were those who braved the wet weather for the chance to see the equipment firefighters of yore would use to battle blazes.

Among the fire trucks on display was a 1936 Holabrid, brought to the muster by the Olive Fire Department and other antique fire trucks from as far away as Rockland and Westchester counties.

Also on display was a 1962 replica Ford Falcon police car owned by Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra.

Sinagra, who was found handing out hot dogs to attendees, said he purchased the car, converted it into a police car reminiscent of the kind that would have been used in the 1960s and now uses it as part of the department’s community involvement efforts.

“I try to at least once a month bring it out,” he said, adding that it makes a “good icebreaker” for interactions with community members.

While the rain may have put a damper on the day’s activities, it wasn’t a complete washout, and kids still climbed on the fire trucks and took part in a bucket brigade, giving them a glimpse into what it would have been like to fight a fire back in the days before modern technology.

“The real key purpose of (the muster) is as a fundraiser and for awareness of the museum,” said Bill Knowles, president of the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall and Museum of Kingston. “The other is making sure we get the word out that there is antique apparatus around that is so valued by their owners.

The Volunteer Fireman’s Hall and Museum opened in the former Wiltwyck Firehouse at 265 Fair Street in 1982, Knowles said.

The annual Antique Fire Engine Muster is the notfor-profit organization’s largest fundraiser.

TANIA BARRICKO—DAILY FREEMAN The Kingston Volunteer Firemen’s Museum team, left, went up against the Kiwanis Club for a friendly bucket brigade competition. The Kiwanis Club won, filling their trough with 7 1⁄2 inches of water to the Firemen’s Museum 5 1⁄2 inches. Despite Saturday’s rain, the 15th Annual Antique Fire Engine Muster and Open House went on with antique fire trucks on display which later drove to the Spring Lake Fire Department for a reception.The Volunteer Firemen’s Hall and Museum on Fair Street in Uptown Kingston, where the event took place, was open to the public throughout the day.

TANIA BARRICKLO—DAILY FREEMAN Three year-old Jose Muniz toured the Antique Firemen’s Hall and Museum with his mother, Lacey Colon of Kingston, at the 15th Annual Antique Fire Engine Muster and Open House.