Despite temperatures hovering near 90 degrees, some 300 friends and neighbors turned out Sept. 10 at Green Acres Park to enjoy activities at Western Salisbury Fire Department’s annual community appreciation day.

Dev Kannan, a long-time WSFD volunteer, now a career firefighter with the Reading Fire Department, and the Western Salisbury department’s chief engineer, has been the organizing committee chair for the event since its inception. He said he thought the heat and humidity in early September might keep folks at home, but “we found our number of visitor’s to be pretty consistent with previous years, at around 300 people.”

The day included bounce games for youngsters, cotton candy, participatory games, a “Dunk the Chief” dunk tank, air brush arm art, tours of the department’s Swain Station and fire equipment, no-cost picnic food, an appearance by Lehigh Valley Health Network’s MedEvac helicopter and fire safety activities in the fire-safety trailer which has made a number of community appearances.

An appearance by Balloons the Clown, an annual draw at the community day, brought youngsters and parents flocking to the park pavilion.

New this year was a “Dunk the Chief” dunk tank that drew a continuous line of youngsters wanting to send Fire Chief Joshua Wells into the tank.

The Lehigh Valley Health Network’s MedEvac helicopter pulled young and old alike away from the games and food to watch the chopper land and open its doors for inspection.

Seeing the myriad of firefighters in uniform at the various activities, a first-time visitor was heard to ask a fire station neighbor, “How many firemen work here?” The answer, “They are all volunteers,” brought a look of astonishment from the visitor.

For the volunteers it was a day to show community appreciation, and for friends and neighbors, a chance for good family fun despite the weather.