Firemen's Muster To Showcase Antique Engines

Two local veteran firemen's associations and others from around New England will muster this Saturday for a parade and competition of pumping prowess with their 19th century hand-pumped fire engines.

The muster, part of a series of competitions sponsored by the New England States Veteran Firemen's League, will begin with a parade down Pleasant Street starting from the main firehouse at 10 a.m., followed by the hand-pumping competition at noon at the playground across from the Charter School on Lime Street.

Marbleheaders will enter two engines, known as handtubs, into the competition: the Okommakamesit #2, from the Oko's Veteran Firemen's Association, and the Gerry #5, from the Gerry No. 5 Veteran Firemen's Association.

The parade is being held to honor the memory of Wayne Martin, who refurbished the Gerry #5 handtub.

Rick Bartlett, the foreman of the Oko's VFA and a former captain in the Marblehead Fire Department, said the muster will bring out a core group of Marblehead VFA members, most of whom belong to both the Oko's and the Gerry #5.

Bartlett has been active in the hand-pumping competitions since he was a child; his father was the foreman of the Gerry VFA. One of Bartlett's ancestors was a Marblehead fire superintendent around 1900, he said.

"Growing up, my father used to take me and my brother to the musters," Bartlett said. "As kids, we used to go to competitions to pump the mini handtubs. I've got a good 50 years of mustering under my belt."

The winners of the competition are the teams of pumpers who can shoot water the furthest distance in each of the two classes of handtubs. Bartlett said the pumps can shoot a stream of water more than 200 feet, depending on wind conditions.

The Oko's handtub has been in Marblehead since 1895, and is the longest continually-operated handtub in the league. But the Oko's VFA hasn't won a competition since 1923.

At a competition earlier this summer in Winchendon, the Oko's came in third place with a distance of 206 feet, despite having a smaller crew of about 20.

"We don't have a good following -- we end up with about 25 to 30 people," Bartlett said. "Hopefully, the Marblehead teams will be victorious."