At the October 2021 monthly meeting of the Vigilant Hose Company, the membership voted upon a recommendation from the organization’s Board of Director’s to pay off the remaining mortgage on the Fire Station located at 25 W. Main Street and the balance remaining on the loan for our recently purchased Engine 61. The total debt removed from our books was over
$1.3 million dollars was officially completed over that last two weeks.

The ability to achieve this reduction in service debt is directly related to the unbelievable
support of the community we service on a daily basis and the excellent planning and fiscal
stewardship managed by our Board of Directors through our Planning Committee members. It
also illustrates the hard work and dedication of the membership in support of the fundraising
efforts of our organization.

During this pandemic, the organization has had to come up with some unique and “outside
the box” fundraising ideas, several of which have become substantial money making projects for
us. We also understand how the community enjoys our many feeds and social events. While
these type of events have declined because of the pandemic, our fundraising committee is working
towards increasing those events so that we can provide an activity that allows members of our
community to attend and interact with individuals they might not have seen in quite a while.

President Tom Ward comments: “It has been nothing but amazing to witness the
outpouring of support we have received from our community in support of our fundraising efforts.
Without a doubt, our ability to sustain a top of the line fire and ambulance service for the
community, with modern equipment and top notch personnel, could not have occurred nor
maintained without our strong community support. For that, I am eternally grateful and
appreciative of on a daily basis. On behalf of the men and women of the Vigilant Hose Company,
I say thank you to everyone that supports us both monetarily and operationally. You inspire us to
continue our daily effort to achieve excellence.”

On this "Giving Tuesday" we are grateful to the greater Emmitsburg community and all our visitors for the support they provide us throughout the year. Without this incredible support we would not be able to continue our over 135 years of service to this community.