Bunn, North Carolina is a small town nestled between Rocky Mount and Raleigh, in Franklin County, where they know how to take care of their citizens and have fun doing it! Every year during the Spring, Bunn Fire Department holds a barbecue community dinner and fundraiser! 

    The firemen had to cut tons of wood for the fire to begin with. Then they loaded the front loader with the logs, and dumped them into the incinerator! Next, they shoveled the hot coals out and over into the bottom of the long rows of cookers, to slow cook the pigs over the coals.

Grandson Liam inspects the cookers on Saturday when the cooking was done

The firemen then had to monitor and tend to the roasting  meat until about five in the afternoon–twelve long hours! After the pigs, chickens were barbecued, then all had to be cut in pieces, or sliced and diced for the barbecue plates and sandwiches  they sold!   What an undertaking, what an amazing effort on the part of these dedicated men, who worked so hard to support the rescue operations they volunteer for to take care of you and me!    

Above and below, the friendly, dedicated, and good looking firemen of Bunn, North Carolina!

Volunteer Firefighter Austin Murray helps cook the  barbecue and chicken. It just so happens he is also a professional caterer!

                                   

    Where were the women you’re wondering? Oh they were right there! The  Bunn Fire Department Ladies’ Auxilary was out in full force as well–they were baking desserts like pound cakes, brownies, and cookies, bagging bread, cutting up cabbage for coleslaw,  roasting potatoes, and cooking up hushpuppies! They had to be prepared to feed several thousand hungry folks! Can you imagine?! So they worked all day Friday preparing, then came back Saturday  to serve, sell t-shirts, sell raffle tickets, cook and clean! I imagine each of them fell into bed Saturday night and into a deep, exhausted sleep!  

Tammy Morton in green sweater joins the Ladies’s Auxilary as usual for preparation on Friday.

Bunn Fire Dept. Ladies Aux. hard at work!

Judy Fergerson, r, mother of Scott Strickland, and Hazel Beck on rt.

     

Community volunteers JoAnn Hays, l, and Annie Holshouser, r.

Community volunteers l to r, Helen Holshouser, Linda McLaughlin, and Dora Pryor

Sheila Strickland, longtime volunteer and aux. memeber.

Mickie Moody, firefighter, says he’s supervising, amd gets himself in trouble!

     My own immediate family doesn’t belong to the group of firemen or the Ladies’ Auxiliary, but we are members of the community. Our next door neighbor, Dora Pryor is the grandmother of one of the firefighters, Austin Murray. Each year she reminds us its time to consider donating a little time, talent, and money to show these brave men and women how much we appreciate them! My husband and my daughter Annie bake cakes to auction and to slice and serve for the dinner plates, as does Dora and our friend Linda across the street.  We go with Dora and several other neighbors to put bread into baggies for the plates, such a simple thing, but needed. 

Judy Fergerson , l, and Sheila Strickland serve barbecue on Fireman’s Day.

Then the best part, we come back Saturday to eat the delicious feast prepared for us! And it is GREAT! Our family goes early, in case they run low, so we get our choice of the incredible barbecue, chicken and all! 

Judy Fergerson , l, hugs Roxie Cash in black sweater, while Sis looks on with smiles. These ladies are long time Bunn Fire Dept. Ladies Aux volunteers!

Scott Strickland, firefighter in green, Willie Mitchell on right

We buy t-shirts and raffle tickets and do whatever we can to let the Bunn Fire Department know how much we appreciate them! 

Retired firefighter, Tommy Baker Morton, volunteers to show us the fire engines. Tammy Morton, a voluneer and member of the Bunn Fire Dept. Ladies Aux.

We even buy extra pounds of barbecue and chicken to bring home, we’ll be feasting all weekend! 

We bring the grand kids to see the fire engines and see the huge cookers and logs! 

    Service. These men and women deserve medals! If you have a heart attack, they are going to be right there for you. If your house catches fire, and its 3:00 am, these volunteers are jumping into their trucks and rushing to our aid! We all want them to hurry, hurry, even fly, when we need them. Then they work like Trojans to raise the money they need to take care of us!  Good gracious, we need to be there for them! 

    As well as supporting the men and women who help us in our times of greatest need, we support, create, and enrich our community and our joy, as we meet new people and make new friends!  Bunn is just one of the small towns in Franklin County, North Carolina. There are many more, like Youngsville, Franklinton, Louisburg, Pilot, and Centerville. The emergency services of each town serve the county area around them as well. And of course, this is true of towns, counties, and municipalities all over our State, and all over our country! So think about it , this is one small way we show appreciation to those we depend on to save our lives! If you didn’t get out to your local station’s event this year, put it in your calendar right now for 2014! Its an amazing experience, and a tradition your children and grandchildren will cherish all of their lives!