Friends of Old Fire Station Changing of The Guard

Sunday - March 14: The group that has adopted the Old Fire Station located on Main Street in Wellsville had a formal changing of the guard yesterday. That group is called Friends of The Old Fire Station. They met yesterday at the Historical Society's River Museum.

Former Friends President Robert "Brassy" Beresford stated that the original officers of the committee are all "on the way out". We certainly hope it is not anytime in the near future. Former officers of the committee, in additon to Beresford, were Jo Ann Crawford, Treasurer, Bonny Beresford, Secretary and Tom Lanham, Burk Morgan & Bill Hanlon, Trustees.

New officers assuming the reigns are Don Rawlings, President, Kris Vallera, VP, Greg Stanley, Secretary, Steve Vallera, Treasurer & Bob Lloyd, Historian.

Before it was a fire station the building, located between 8th & 9th on Main, was the first brick and mortar Catholic Church in the village. It's pictured above. In 1904 the Wellsville Catholics built a three story combination school and church on 11th Street. After moving into the new building the old church was given to the Village. The quality of the picture is not the best but you can get an idea of how it appeared when first built.

In the early 1970s Wellsville renovated the old Standard Electric building at 1200 Main St. making half of it the Village Fire Station. The old station was vacated and early on was used as a storage site for the Village. It was falling into disrepair and at one time there was talk of razing the historic structure.

Enter the original members of the Friends Committee... In the late 1980s they approached City Council offering to take it over with hopes of making it a historical site in memory of all the past volunteer fire fighters. They were given the keys to the building and went to work. It was cleaned out and enough funds were raised to install a heat source. Over the past couple of decades the local economy went sour and fund raisers barely brought in enough to pay the utility bills.

Plans are being made to continue the mission of the original volunteer Friends. First on the list is to get the front painted. They are getting estimates. They are going to install a fence similar to what you see above between the building and the Laundromat. Bob Lloyd is going to put together a historical display of pictures and they hope to have all this accomplished in time for this year's All-Class Reunion. All in all it fits in nicely with the Revitalization Committee's Main Street project. It will brighten up that spot.

Membership in the Friends is a very affordable $5 a year. It's open to anyone that would like to be part of this segment of Wellsville history. Just contact any of the officers listed above. We'll even pass on your request to join in for you.

A special thanks to all the original members of the Friends. Your efforts are greatly appreciated, especially with those of us that believe the Ville's history needs to be preserved. Whether you're an old fire fighter or just a history buff it's great to see your efforts will be continued.

We don't know where the quotation comes from but it has been said that "time waits for no man". It's a sad reality but with groups like the Friends, the history will be available for a long time.

ole nib