Derby Fire Department hosts first annual Valentine’s Day Dinner

ELLERBE — The Valentine’s Day celebrations continued Saturday as the Derby Volunteer Fire Department hosted its first annual Valentine’s Day dinner at the Derby Community Center.

“I approached the fire department members in January regarding this. It’s not a fundraiser. We do a lot of fundraisers through the year to support our community, but this event is a way to say happy Valentine’s Day to the community and have everybody come together and celebrate a special holiday with your significant other, or if you just come alone, I think it’s equally important to show the love for your community,” said event coordinator Connie Green.

Green said the inspiration for the event came from a conversation with Tammy Poland, a fellow event coordinator and her “right hand.” Poland shared that her husband, David Poland, the fire chief, had a family tradition of hosting Valentine’s Day events. Green suggested starting a new tradition for the community.

“So how this originally came about is Tammy and I were talking, and she had mentioned how David’s family used to have big Valentine’s events as a family, and when she said that, I said, ‘Why don’t we do a Valentine’s event?’ And that’s how honestly this became a thing. We’re creating a new tradition. I feel like families, friends that become family don’t get together as much as they should anymore, and I feel like it’s so important to get together with your family and your friends that have become family and make those memories.”

Spending time with the fire department members has been one of Green’s favorite aspects of organizing the dinner. “Spending time with the fire department members that have become family; that would be my favorite part.”

Green also expressed gratitude to the Berry Patch for donating all the produce used at the dinner. “We would like to thank the Berry Patch. They donated all the produce for this event, which was potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and peppers.”

The event featured a steak dinner with hot potatoes, a salad bar and dessert. A raffle was held for two gift cards to Cold Stone Creamery and Starbucks for attendees.

Looking ahead, the Derby Fire Department will host its third annual spaghetti dinner during the second week of May. “That is a huge event that draws a lot of attention. As soon as we wrap up this one [Valentine’s Day dinner], we will start planning for our May event. We’re already starting to talk about it and all the people that are going to come and what we’re going to do differently this year. So we’re very excited about it,” said Green.