It’s not about the apples, New Harmony festival bears fruit for all-volunteer fire district

Harmony Valley Volunteer Fire Association fundraiser, Apple Harvest Festival, New Harmony, Utah, Oct.12, 2013 | Photo by Jeremy Crawford, St. George News
Harmony Valley Volunteer Fire Association fundraiser, Apple Harvest Festival, New Harmony, Utah, Oct.12, 2013 | Photo by Jeremy Crawford, St. George News
Harmony Valley Volunteer Fire Association fundraiser, Apple Harvest Festival

NEW HARMONY – The Harmony Valley Volunteer Fire Association held its Apple Harvest Festival Saturday at the New Harmony Fire Department Park on East Center Street.  It was a day canopied in blue skies and pleasant temperatures in the low 60s inviting some 1,200 people to the rural Southern Utah town just north of St. George.

The New Harmony Apple Festival is an anticipated and vital tradition for the Harmony Valley. It is held the second week in October every year, aptly timed as the fall season ripens so local growers can share their regional apple varieties.

But, this year, it was more about the town’s support of its fire department than it was about the apples. Apple juice was offered but nary an apple was to be found at the festival – other than one passerby seen pulling an apple or two off one of the many apple trees dotting the neighboring streets.

Fire District Capt. Matt Goodman said they had invited local growers but didn’t find any to come participate in the event. Apples or no apples, Saturday’s festival was filled with good old-fashioned hometown socializing, and it was first and foremost about all things “fire fighter.”

Saiyzha Jimerson gets a hug from Sparky the Safety Dog, Utah State Fire Marshal's mascot, at the Harmony Valley Volunteer Fire Association fundraiser, Apple Harvest Festival, New Harmony, Utah, Oct.12, 2013 | Photo by Jeremy Crawford, St. George News
Saiyzha Jimerson gets a hug from Sparky the Safety Dog, Utah State Fire Marshal’s mascot

Firemen served up homemade food and festival fare – hamburgers, cotton candy, scones and such; and the Utah State Fire Marshal’s Sparky the Safety Dog came with teaching trailer to engage children and others in fire safety education modules.

The Apple Festival is one of two major benefits put on by the HVVFA each year, the other being a grimy and glorious mud run in the summertime, to support the all-volunteer New Harmony Fire District.

The District serves a 28-square mile area including the town and Harmony Valley as well as a 6-mile stretch of Interstate 15. It addresses the needs of some 2,100 residents, according to the district’s website, as well as other emergent  needs: wildland and structural fires, medical, rescue, included.

Panning for? Iron perhaps, in retrospect to the town's brief venture with a crude iron foundry in 1852-53. Harmony Valley Volunteer Fire Association fundraiser, Apple Harvest Festival, New Harmony, Utah, Oct.12, 2013 | Photo by Jeremy Crawford, St. George News
Panning for? Iron perhaps, in retrospect to the town’s brief venture with a crude iron foundry in 1852-53. Apple Harvest Festival

Evidencing the Apple Festival is fruitful, the New Harmony Fire District was able to purchase a new truck last year, its captain, Matt Goodman said, with proceeds earned from previous apple festivals.

“This year they are hoping to get a paramedic on the force by the first of the year,” he said.

Among other things the volunteers do to keep fit for the job is to spend two days each month training for fire fighting and other emergencies as well as participating in special trainings such as the winter fire school in St George.

The New Harmony Fire District’s Chief, Gregory Gonzalez, sums up the aspiration of the volunteer force in a statement on its website:

We believe, we exist to help people, because people are our most important asset, that continuous improvement is accomplished 1 step at a time, and to do what is best for the the people we serve, thus… ‘ We Accept A Higher Challenge’.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Related posts

St. George News Editor-in-Chief Joyce Kuzmanic contributed to this report.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.

Harmony Valley Volunteer Fire Association fundraiser, Apple Harvest Festival, New Harmony, Utah, Oct.12, 2013 | Photo by Jeremy Crawford, St. George News
Harmony Valley Volunteer Fire Association fundraiser, Apple Harvest Festival, New Harmony, Utah, Oct.12, 2013 | Photo by Jeremy Crawford, St. George News

 

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.