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Randy Adams, left, and Rich Morgan extract homemade ice cream from containers after it's finished churning Thursday morning for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Jenny Kump pours ice cream ingredients from one bowl into another Thursday morning for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
A row of machines churn homemade ice cream that will be served at Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Thursday morning saw a flurry of activity at Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company, though their annual fireman’s fair didn’t start until 5 p.m.
Dozens of volunteers were at work at the firehouse at 1750 Pine Road in Newville, preparing what could arguably be considered the fair’s biggest attraction: food.
Operations were well underway in the corn soup and barbecue departments around 9 a.m. Thursday, with sausages and french fries on deck.
According to the fire company’s president, John Wardle, the three-day fair scheduled to run through Saturday takes an “army” of 300 volunteers, three weeks of set-up and a week of tear-down to become a reality.
“The fair is about the community at Penn Township, the fair is about people,” Wardle said. “We’re here to serve the community, that’s our goal, whether it’s for lives and property and service or to provide a community atmosphere and a community place for people to come and have weddings and suppers and banquets and all that kind of stuff.”
It also serves as the department’s largest fundraiser of the year, bringing in money to keep the department running, as well as to purchase a new fire engine to further meet the community’s needs, Wardle said.
The fair features a variety of attractions including Kiddie Land, a train display, local 4-H projects and a fireworks show to finish the event at 10 p.m. Saturday.
It’s also well known for something else: ice cream.
Volunteers arrived at the department at 7 a.m. Thursday to begin producing the homemade treat.
“If we’re lucky we’re done by about 1 o’clock,” Wardle said. “Then we freeze it and then it’s ready to dip tonight [Thursday] at 5 p.m. ... and then we’ll dip until 10 or 11 o’clock, and then tomorrow we’ll do it again.”
Each day, the treat is prepared fresh and served the day it is made through what Wardle described as a “big” and “streamlined” operation to produce the 1,000 gallons required for the event.
A team works inside the department’s building to mix up what Wardle described as “the secret recipe” that’s been handed down in families for years. Volunteers then add one of five flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pineapple or raspberry. The ice cream is then mixed in a 20-quart container before it is taken outside and passed onto the next group.
Once outside, the ice cream is placed into one of six mixers and churned for about 20 minutes. Water and salt are also added in this process to freeze the treat. Wardle said it’s then transferred into three-gallon containers and frozen for about six hours before being transferred to freezers under the company’s pavilion for dipping crews to serve from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m.
Fairgoers can purchase the ice-cream for $3 per scoop, though Wardle said many attendees choose to get three scoops and others leave donations.
If they really, really enjoy ice cream, participants can sign up to take part in the fair’s annual ice cream eating contest that will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Contestants get five scoops of the fair’s homemade ice cream and the first person to finish is declared the winner. Wardle said the first people to sign up at the fair can compete for the chance to clinch the title and win a prize.
“I’m looking for eight people that want to eat ice cream fast,” he said. “There is kind of a secret to it; come to the contest and you’ll find out what it is.”
After 51 years of experience with the fair, it’s not surprising that Wardle knows the secret to the competition’s success, though he said he’s one of hundreds of people who have been involved with the fair for decades.
“My dad has been here for 50 years,” he said. “A lot of families take care of certain events ... and that’s their way of giving back. It’s their donation back to the community, and then we hope the people come and support us.”
For Wardle, it always comes back to the people.
“They know they can come, meet their friends, talk, fellowship, get some food, eat a dish of ice cream, go back and get another dish of ice cream, whatever, and so they can enjoy the people they see at the fair,” he said. “They come to the fair to see the people.”
After all, food, games and ice cream aside, it’s the people, Wardle said, that make the event “truly a family community fair.”
Luke Fry hoses down equipment used to make homemade ice-cream Thursday morning for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Mike Sheaffer loads a canister of ice cream into a freezer machine Thursday morning for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Tony Newcomer pours ice into a freezer machine to churn ice cream Thursday morning in preparation for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
A row of machines churn homemade ice cream that will be served at Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Alexis Thorson opens ingredients that will be poured into bowls and turned into homemade ice cream Thursday morning in preparation for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Jenny Kump pours ice cream ingredients from one bowl into another Thursday morning for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Randy Adams, left, and Rich Morgan extract homemade ice cream from containers after it's finished churning Thursday morning for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Volunteers mix up homemade ice cream Thursday morning that will be served during Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Crates of drinks and ice cream ingredients are stacked in a freezer to be served at Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Volunteers supervise freezer machines as they churn homemade ice cream Thursday morning that will be served at Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Volunteers utilize a row of mixers to blend ice cream ingredients Thursday morning in preparation for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com covering Carlisle and Newville. You can contact her at mseiler@cumberlink.com and follow her on Twitter at: @SeilerMadalyn
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Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel.
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Randy Adams, left, and Rich Morgan extract homemade ice cream from containers after it's finished churning Thursday morning for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
Jenny Kump pours ice cream ingredients from one bowl into another Thursday morning for Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
A row of machines churn homemade ice cream that will be served at Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company's annual fireman's fair.
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