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A man holds his child, who holds a blue balloon animal, with tent booths behind him.
The 75th Fireman Festival is a community staple in Amesville. [Charlie Ihlenfeld | WOUB]

Amesville celebrated its 75th Firemen Festival to help the Ames-Bern Volunteer Fire Department


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AMESVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) – Amesville is one of many volunteer fire departments across Ohio struggling with lowered recruitment numbers and rising costs.

On Saturday, residents gathered to celebrate the 75th Annual Amesville Firemen Festival. While the festival began as a way to raise money for the department, it has become more about the community. Rising costs have made it impossible to fund the department through the festival alone.

“We make a little money, don’t get us wrong,” said Ames-Bern Fire Chief Brad Maxwell. “But it wouldn’t fund our department with today’s prices.”

Meanwhile, the fire department has seen its numbers decline for decades. In the 1980s, Maxwell estimates, they had about 40 firefighters. Today, the department has about 10 firefighters under ideal conditions.

Nationwide, volunteer fire departments have seen their number fall by 220,850 between 1984 and 2020, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council. During that time, the United States’ population increased by 95 million. Maxwell believes the change comes from a mindset shift, and he hopes he can recruit more firefighters.

“People need to get back to thinking, what does my community need?” said Maxwell.

Jim Dille sits in a chair with memorabilia of the Ames-Bern Volunteer Fire Department behind him.
Jim Dillie, founding member of the Ames-Bern Volunteer Fire Department, with memories of the department behind him. [Charlie Ihlenfeld | WOUB]
During this personnel strain, the department has dealt with more calls than ever, and they go farther afield for mutual aid runs. Maxwell estimates they will break the record for runs this year, something he attributes to increased alerts from technology and false alarms.

“When we rescued the first proverbial cat from the tree, it opened us up to be called for every time,” said Maxwell.

When the festival began in 1950, the department had limited goals.

“(It) started as a way to buy helmets, fire coats and operate the fire department,” said Jim Dillie, a founding member of the Fire Department and fire chief for over 40 years. Dillie said the department served both to protect the community and connect it. The department would have a night for firemen to gather and another to work.

Helen Withem was at the first festival in 1950 and she said it has grown in size and brought people back to Amesville from all over the country.

“I feel it’s like a lot of it is a family reunion type thing because they don’t live here, so they get to come back and see their friends and classmates,” said Withem.

Her son and father both served on the department, and her son was the fire chief for several years. Like many before and after them, they were a part of the connective tissue of Amesville.

“There’s quite a conglomeration of men who have been fire chief, and a lot of them strictly in the fire department,” said Withem. “You know, it’s small and strictly volunteer.”