HISTORY OF THE LAKE SHORE
JUNIOR FIRE COMPANY

As the Fire Company continued to grow, so did the curiosity of the young men of the community. Many of these young men were sons of firemen who were too young to join. They showed up at most all fires.

It was though by member, Karl Wagner, that the fire company must be able to benefit by their enthusiasm. There was much research done and in the mid-spring of 1946, Elek Csont and William F. (Babe) miller were appointed supervisors and an organizational meeting was called.

On May 26, 1946, twenty-two young men met and formed the Lake Shore Junior Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. The first elected officers were:

President – John Herrmann
Secretary – Robert Pearl
Treasurer – Richard Mead
Chief – Richard Lippert

The unit’s main purpose is to provide Firematic training to the members, in hopes that they may one day return the knowledge as members of the senior Company. The unit’s second purpose is to provide a clean healthy environment for the members to learn and grow. The “Juniors” have participated on basketball, softball and waterball teams. Firematic drills also provide exercise.

The nature of the group is not all physical. The members have the ability to serve as officers or on committees for the various functions which can be challenging to the mind and build character.

Much of the emphasis put on each member is toward fire prevention and safety. Something that young and old can participate in to bring about tangible results. The Junior Firemen have actively partaken in the fire prevention displays, lectures and related prevention duties. They’ve won many awards such as First prize in the Hamburg Town Fire Council contest and at the Erie County Fair.

The Junior Firemen formed a marching unit in the 1940’s and have continued to march off and on since then. Although the Junior Fire Co. has received a lot of assistance form the Active Company, they are basically self sustaining. They have run numerous fundraisers such as car washes, raffles, selling calendars, dances and running their own stands at the Field Days and Community Days.

The highlight of the year for many years was their annual Installation Dinner which for many years was a large function. Members coordinated all facets of the Dinner.

The Junior Firemen were allowed to answer fire calls for many years until it was realized that they were not covered by insurance and could not be. There was also complaints from the Firemen that they couldn’t get on the pumper, because there were so many Junior Firemen.

The Lake Shore Junior Volunteer Fire Company has provided the Senior Company with a great deal of pride and distinction.