By STAFF REPORTS

The CCDF Volunteer Fire & Rescue squad will celebrate its 50th anniversary and you’re invited.

The celebration will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 24 at the CCDF Fire & Rescue building, located at 1409 Dry Pond Highway.

The organization began in 1967, as a fire department only, according to Pat Shouse, captain of the rescue squad.

Later, “there was a need for rescue. We officially started the rescue part in 1972,” Shouse said. “We’ve been there and developed and enlarged ever since.”

Shouse recalled “we started off with two pieces (vehicles) of fire equipment. We now have five pieces of fire apparatus and two ambulances. We provide 24/7 coverage with all volunteers.”

The agency has approximately 33 volunteers, and serves several communities, including Claudville, Collinstown, Dry Pond and Five Forks, she said.

Squads and fire trucks also travel outside of the area through a Mutual Aid Agreement fire and rescue agencies are required to sign. CCDF volunteers provide “mutual aid help for anybody in the county” as well as bordering North Carolina counties of Stokes and Surry, Shouse said.

“We stay pretty busy. A lot more so than it used to be,” she said, and added the department needs volunteers – not just for running calls or fighting fires, but for other things as well.

For instance, Shouse said the celebration itself “is a pretty big undertaking, more than 20 of us have committed” to pitching in for the event.

Additionally, “there’s lots of stuff that needs to be done that others can help with,” including cleanups for events like the celebration, providing water and food to firefighters at the scene of a blaze, and countless other tasks, she said.

Shouse hopes that anyone interested in volunteering takes time to visit the celebration. Volunteer applications will be on hand for anyone who wishes to sign up, she said.

Musical guests at the event include Too Young Too Old, Almost There, Marcie Horne and more.

There also will be food: freshly made hot dogs and hamburgers, slaw, baked beans, chips, cold drinks, delicious desserts.

The event is free for the community, Shouse said.

The July 1 rain date for the event will not include featured performers.