NEW BREMEN – After a year’s hiatus, the 100th annual New Bremen Firemen’s Picnic will be again offering a soaking good time. Set to be held on July 23-24, the event at will be at the village’s Crown Pavilion.
“What a difference a year makes!” said Picnic chairman Jeff Utz. “Last year, we made the difficult decision to cancel our annual Firemen’s Picnic for the first time in history!”
“This year, our event will be extra special, taking place over two days, and capped off with a special fireworks display that will light the night on Saturday evening,” he said.
Information about the picnic can be found at either https://newbremen.com/firemenspicnic/ or on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NEWBREMENGERMANFIRE.
The festival begins on Friday night, July 23, with a ceremonial keg tap plus refreshment and food stands opening. The Firemens Picnic Raffle booth will begin selling tickets with a top prize of $1,000. Utz pointed out that the $5 tickets are a major fund-raiser for the fire department, to be used for volunteer firemen equipment and student scholarships.
Kids can participate in a new Gaga Ball Tournament at 6:30. p.m. The fire department will do an auto extrication demonstration at 7 p.m. and the 5K begins at 8 p.m. Rock band Bubs and Munch will be entertaining until 11:30.
On Saturday, July 24, there will be Waterball competition, a uniquely traditional firemens contest, where teams use fire hoses to compete to push a ball suspended high up in the air on a wire. This year they will again be versions for both children and adults.
For the children, Waterball contests start at 1 p.m., when children in age groups from 5 to 7 years old, 8 to 10 years old and 11 to 13 years old can don a fireman’s helmet and start the water tug-of-war. The adult version begins at 5 p.m. Everyone, even spectators located downwind of the event, are pretty certain to get wet. There is no charge to participate.
Other Saturday children’s events include Touch a Truck, pony rides, and children’s games. For everyone, the old fire station will be open for visitors and there is a 2 p.m. New Bremen Sports Challenge Lift-A-Thon .
An 8 p.m. auction will help raise funds, while the rock band My Sister Sara entertains until 12 midnight. At 10 pm, fireworks will light up the sky, sponsored by the New Bremen Foundation, First National Bank, and Decorating By Mary.
Utz said “We hope that you will join us July 23 – 24 to help us celebrate not just our 100th anniversary, but also being back together with our community!”
