Chewton VFD Ladies Auxiliary Celebrates 70 Years of Community Service

The Chewton Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary celebrated a milestone this year, 70 years of community service, with a dinner honoring the three surviving charter members, Barbara Barr, Lois Chappell, and Frances Sbarro.

Beginning on October 20th 1953, by a group of women, some who were the wives of firemen, knew there was a need for their department and community and came together to do their part to help the department and the purpose they served through financial and moral support.

On that day, they acquired 20 members. The auxiliary today has 17 members, ranging in age from 25 to 91 and are always looking for new members to continue what these ladies began.
With the purpose of financial and social support for the department and community, keeping this goal in mind their creativity for fundraising was never ending.

They sold cleaning products, tupperware, handbags, created cookbooks, many of which are still being used today. They held bazaar, bake sales, breakfasts, dinners selling homemade soup and bread, to making and selling apple butter made in copper kettles over wood fires in the church parking lto. They were also known for their kitchen band formed in1953 using kitchen utensils and toy instruments, playing in local parades and functions they were invited to.

In more recent years, the auxiliary held craft shows, Christmas cookie sales, Night at the Races, basket raffles, and ticket sales. With the last few years resorting to a yearly calendar sale because of increasing ages and declining physical abilities of its members.

The ladies auxiliary takes pride and credit for the hall and kitchen built mainly because of their hard work and efforts and the beginning of Chewton Pizza. Using the recipe from Frances Sbarro, they first sold from a booth, made for them by the firemen, transporting it to the Wampum Carnival to supply pizza to the carnival go-ers, then making it a Friday night tradition.
The tradition of making and selling pizza continues with the firemen accomplishing this task using the same recipe the ladies used in 1960.

These ladies and all who followed, along with today’s members, have made many memories and lifelong friendships working together to improve the community they love.