For over 50 years, the Janesville Fire Department has held its annual Firemen’s Dance, bringing crowds of Janesville residents and other locals to enjoy a night of music, a chance to win raffles and have fun with friends and family.
This past Saturday, Feb. 10, from 8 p.m. to midnight, the fire department had more of those fun times.
Providing the musical entertainment for the night was local band GTX, which featured Janesville native Tammy Seys on vocals. Even though the band might not have been as established as the Blue Ringers or Smokescreen — who provided the music at previous firemen’s dances — it was a nice change of pace, according to firefighter Ann Gerdts.
“It’s nice to have a band featuring someone from Janesville playing music at the dance,” she said.
She also remembered the past firemen’s dances fondly. “I remember as a young kid, my parents would get the tickets for it almost yearly.”
During the dance, many members of neighboring fire departments, such as Madison Lake, Mankato, and Mapleton, supported the event. “It’s always great to see fellow firefighters in other towns show their support,” firefighter Sarah Johnson said.
The event is the fire department’s biggest fundraiser of the year. All proceeds from the Firemen’s Dance go toward the Janesville Fire Department Relief Association. Contributions to the fire department help them stay equipped with “the necessary tools and equipment to continue serving our community.” Gerdts and Johnson claimed that other fire departments have supported Janesville through year-round donations to the relief association.
The night also allowed the Janesville Fire Department to show off its new hand-crafted sign from Handmade Lines of Mankato. According to Ben March, the department won it in a Facebook contest with over 50 other fire departments. “It’s really well done and looks great,” he said. “We’re all thankful to everyone who nominated us and helped us win it.”
Winning the sign and seeing so many in the community attend this year’s firemen’s dance proves that Janesville proudly supports its firefighters. “It’s good to see the Janesville community continue to show support for this event and our fire department,” Johnson said.
