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Walnut Hill Vol. Fire Dept. Holding 50th Fish Fry Saturday (With Department History)

Saturday will mark the 50th anniversary of what has become one of the biggest events in Walnut Hill and surrounding communities — the annual fish fry at the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department.

The fish fry has been held annually since 1969. The first fish fry on record was held about a month after the department was chartered.

The fire department’s first fish fry was held on Saturday, April 10, 1965, just after the Walnut Hill Fire Department was officially chartered on Monday, March 8, 1965, during a meeting held at Ernest Ward High School.

Adult plates were sold for $1, and plates for children under 12 were 50 cents. According to minutes from the fire department’s charter meeting, the fish fry was suggested by O.D. Gibson. It was organized as a fundraiser, and “to let the community know what had been accomplished” with the new department. It was a two hour community event.

That first fish fry cost the department $87.62, including $43 for fish and $13.23 to Lawrence Cooper’s Grocery. The total income was $256.50, netting a $168.88 profit for the Walnut Hill Fire Department’s first fundraiser.

The fire department was organized by the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club, under the leadership of Ruritan President Royce Ward.

In 1968, the Walnut Hill Fire Department held an open house at their first building on November 16, 1968. The first firehouse was located under the water tower at Highway 97 and Arthur Brown Road. Before the building was completed, fire trucks and other equipment was stored in members’ sheds and barns.

There are no records indicating that a fish fry was held each year between 1965 and 1968, but the fish fry events have been held annually since 1969.

The department’s first truck was about a 1957 model GMC 2 1/2 ton 4×2 fuel service truck loaned from the Florida Forest Service.

The department has compiled a list of their fire chiefs as follows: E. C. (Chuck) Church, 1965 to September 1966; Bob Holdeman, September 1966 to August 1968; Vern Peters from August 1968 to 1983; Jack Brown from 1983 to December 1984; Ervin Schneider, 1985 to 1987; Dennis Rigby, 1988 to 1989; Bill Jackson, 1990 to February 1991; Al Bradley, March 1991 to 1992; Robert Stewart, 1993 to September 2008; and Chris Brown October 2008 to present.

The department’s first board of directors were: C.L. Byrd, Robert E. Holdeman, Kenneth Brown, W.H. Corley, Chief E. C. Church, Assistant Chief Buddy Sharpless, Assistant Chief Therman Raines, Captain Don Strickland, Captain James Pierce, Lt. Roger Johnson, Lt. Glenn Thrower, J.H. Morgan, Sam Jantz and Harvey Bradberry.

To read the original minutes from the charter meeting of the Walnut Hill Fire Department, click here (pdf).

To read original fire department minutes from December 2, 1968, click here (pdf).

The Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department’s 50th Annual Fish Fry will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97. Plates will be $8 each with a choice of catfish fillets or grilled chicken, plus baked beans, coleslaw, hush puppies, bread and cake. There will also be drawing for door prizes beginning at 1 p.m. and a live auction.

Pictured top: This undated photograph from the early days of the Walnut Hill Fire Department shows Robert Mininger, an assistant chief; Bob Holdeman, the department’s second chief; Royce Ward, president of the Ruritan Club; and Vern Peters who served 15 years as the department’s third chief. Pictured inset: The original handwritten minutes from the department’s first meeting. Pictured below: Former Chief Robert Stewart (left) was honored in 2008. Stewart is being presented a framed uniform shirt by current Chief Chris Brown. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.