On Saturday evening, the Lions Hall in Shawville was packed for the annual Shawville-Clarendon Fireman’s ball.
Chief Lee Laframboise said that the department currently has 31 firefighters, more than it has ever had.
“We’ve never had higher than 28. And we just took on three in the last few weeks, we just had a few applicants,” he said. “We’re planning the future, maybe some people are going to retire down the road. We’d like to build it a little bit right now so it would be better for the future.”
Laframboise added that the department was looking to upgrade its training facility and add a shelter for outside instructors who come up to conduct certifications, using money that the department has raised through fundraisers like their annual ball.
“In the next three or four weeks, we’re going to do a major upgrade of the training centre,” he said. “We’re going to make a new pad, lift it up with a crane and turn it, change windows, put a second storey on one end. Make it up to date for training [ . . . ] We’re going to put a little gazebo or something for the instructors when they come up from wherever they come up from in Quebec, a little roof for them to be under, out of the weather.”
Laframboise himself was recognized for 35 years on the force, along with Michael St-Pierre for 15 years and Paul Emmerson for 10 years.
Representatives of the Shawville Fair board also made a donation of $1,000 to the fire department, with director Mavis Hanna acknowledging all the help it’s provided over the decades.
“On behalf of the Shawville Fair board I’d like to thank the Shawville-Clarendon Fire Department for their tremendous support year after year of the Shawville Fair. We could not have such a successful event without you guys,” she said.
The Midnight Ramblers provided entertainment for the evening and had many up on their feet dancing throughout the night.
