The 31st Annual Crookston Firefighter Fun Night will be held on Saturday, March 28, at the Crookston Eagles Club. The night of fun includes dinner, games, raffles and door prizes, and a band to wrap up the evening with all the proceeds going to the Crookston Firefighters Association.
Crookston Firefighter Cole Ricard explains how to get tickets: “If you’re going to be interested in purchasing these meal tickets, a good way to do that is by contacting your local firefighter or contacting the Crookston Fire Department, 218-281-4584, or talking to a full-time staff member at the firehall.”
Tickets are $30 and include your choice of a prime rib or walleye dinner. There will be a social hour at 5:00 p.m., dinner at 6:00, and the dance beginning at 9:00 p.m.
It will be another fun evening. “After the meal, we will be doing a bunch of games and other different activities to get you guys some prizes,” said Ricard. “And after we give away that stuff, we’ll be looking at a band. The band this year is going to be the Bad Campers.”
Attending the fun night is a great way to meet and greet the Crookston Firefighters. “We want to try to get everybody up there, and it’s a good way to meet your current firefighters, whether it’s your paid-on-call or your full-timers and the chief up there. You know, and so a little bit about us up there,” said Ricard. “The Firefighter Association covers about 14 townships, and that’s 500 square miles. So, you know, we encompass a lot of the county, and we do like to show our faces and make sure the people who we are serving that they know who we are and what we do from the fire suppression out in the rural, urban, wildland areas, motor vehicle rescues, medical assistance, farm and industrial rescues, hazardous materials and general rescues. So it’s good for them to come and see us.”
The proceeds from the Fun Night will be used to update equipment, among other things. “Something always comes up where you’re going to need this kind of money available, and this year we’re going to be putting money towards a new fire truck. Our engine seven is up at the north station, and it’s approaching 25 years old. And right now, trying to go with a new truck, you’re looking at over a million dollars,” said Ricord. “Now we’ve got a leaky roof at our north station, so we’ve got to get that fixed. That’s not going to be cheap.”
Some of the prizes that will be given away/raffled are a Blackstone Griddle, an assortment of guns, Milwaukee tools, a half-day guided fishing trip, Crookston Pirate neon signs, a meat package, a Crookston Pirate horse board, and other things. Firefighters are still selling $100 raffle tickets, with only 200 sold. The cash prizes for the raffle are $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000.
The 31st annual Crookston Firefighter Fun Night will be Saturday, March 28, at the Crookston Eagles Club, starting with a social at 5:00 p.m.
