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John Nibarger and George Rallis man the hose for the Governor Bradstreet team from North Andover. -
Steve Young leads the team for the Hancock V.F.A. from Ashburnham, Mass. -
John Nibarger, George Rallis, John Thibeault and Ed Bradford man the hose for the Governor Bradstreet team from North Andover. -
Steve Young leads the team for the Hancock V.F.A. from Ashburnham, Mass. -
Jaffrey’s Contoocook No. 1 hand-pump tub. -
Jason Thibeault leads the team for Quansigamog, of Bath, Maine, starting the team and calling the rhythm for the pumpers. -
Bob Young, William Knight and Orren Knight man the hose for the Hancock V.F.A. of Ashburnham, Mass. -
Team members for Governor Bradstreet, of North Andover, jump in to assist competitor Quansigamog of Bath, Maine. -
Bruce Hill of Jaffrey helps to pump the Contoocook No.1, Jaffrey’s antique hand pump, for the fireman’s muster competition. -
A line of residents gets ready to pump Contoocook No. 1 of Jaffrey, hoping to get on the board. -
Quansigamog of Bath, Maine, is pulled into place for the competition by team members. -
Kim Hoffman and Henry McHale, who attended the Jaffrey fireman’s muster in support of the T.W. Lane team, jump in to assist the Jaffrey Contoocook No. 1 team in their attempt to use their antique hand pump. -
Aiden Chapman of Jaffrey uses an old-fashioned water bucket to try to knock down a “fire” cutout, in a children’s game offered during the muster. -
Kim Hoffman and Henry McHale, who attended the muster in support of the T.W. Lane team, jump in to assist the Jaffrey Contoocook No. 1 team. -
Isabelle Caruthers of Jaffrey uses an old-fashioned water bucket to try to knock down a “fire” cutout, in a children’s game offered during the muster. -
Aiden Chapman of Jaffrey uses an old-fashioned water bucket to try to knock down a “fire” cutout in a children’s game offered during the muster.
A total of nine competitors, some from as far away as Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine, converged on Humiston Field in Jaffrey on Saturday, hauling antique hand-pumped fire equipment for the town’s first fireman’s muster held in over 100 years.
The event was part of Jaffrey’s 250th anniversary celebrations, sponsored by the 250th Organizing Committee, the Jaffrey Historical Society and the New England States Veteran Fireman’s League. Teams, often using spectators (and sometimes even their fellow competitors) hand-pumped water through a hose to shoot it the furthest they could and mark a paper set up on Humiston Field. The winner received an engraved medallion.
The last recorded muster held in Jaffrey was in 1880, when the Torrent Engine Company of West Gardner, Mass., won first place, with a stream measured at 188 feet and 11 inches. This year’s best showing was from Hancock V.F.A., of Ashburnham, Mass., whose team managed a spray of 213 feet and 10 3/4 inches.
Host Jaffrey participated with its own hand-pumper, the first fire engine in town, which is still in working condition, though considerably smaller than some of the competitors on the field on Saturday. Rather than aiming to win, the goal for the team was to hit the recording paper, set 100 feet from the hose, and get their name on the board for the first time. They were successful in their goal, with a recorded distance of 101 feet, 7 inches, though it put Jaffrey’s Contoocook No. 1 in last place for the day.
The length for all teams recorded during Jaffrey’s muster are as follows:
— T.W. Lane: 172 feet, 9 1/4 inches.
— Governor Bradstreet: 191 feet.
— Hancock V.F.A.: 213 feet, 10 3/4 inches.
— Quansigamog: 176 feet 3 1/4 inches.
— Contoocook: 101 feet, 7 inches.
— Tiger: 176 feet, 10 3/4 inches.
— Neptune: 156 feet, 1 3/4 inches.
— Protection: 210 feet.
— Okommakamesit: 160 feet, 8 1/2 inches.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.