Centennial celebrated for fire engine at Shenandoah museum

SHENANDOAH – “How many people celebrate the birthday of a fire truck,” Phil Groody said as he emceed such a celebration Saturday in Shenandoah.

The Schuylkill Historical Fire Society held an open house, parade, and celebration for the centennial of its 1925 Ahrens-Fox fire engine.

Museum Curator Michael Kitsock said the truck was originally built for a fire company in Lock Haven. It cost $12,000 new at the time, or $222,516 today.

He shared photos of the truck when it was new.

It was later sold to a fledgling fire company in Clinton County in the 1940s and to another company in Mifflin County where it was to be a parts truck.

Enter the Shamokin “Sump Pumpers,” a group of volunteers with the Rescue Fire Co. in Shamokin. Kitsock said they were seeking an antique fire engine for their company’s centennial and restored the Ahrens-Fox. Eventually, it was donated to the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society in Shenandoah.

Kitsock joked about the idea of a birthday party for a fire truck.

“Maybe a good idea, maybe not, but the fact that you’re here today tells me it was a good idea,” Kitsock said, “and if there’s certainly a vehicle worthy of having a birthday party for, it is this one right here.”

Groody, a retired Ashland fire chief and emcee of the event, agreed.

“When a fire truck survives 100 years, I guess it’s worth a little something,” he said.

A little something included a parade of about eight antique fire trucks on a loop of downtown Shenandoah followed by a ceremony and cake cutting.

The crowd sang Happy Birthday and Kitsock quipped “and 100 more” at the end.

Dozens turned out for the ceremony and an open house at the fire museum.

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