When my husband was transferred to Texas over 20 years ago, I was heartsick. My family lived in Louisiana, and I didn’t want to move.
The one saving grace was we’d found a home in a family-friendly, established neighborhood, Pecan Grove.
Our first winter in Pecan Grove, my children were delighted when they heard the Pecan Grove Volunteer Fire truck coming down the street carrying Santa Claus. When he threw them candy and yelled out “Ho, ho, ho,” they were in heaven.
Our first summer, we saw signs at the station for something called Five Miles My Way. We discovered the event drew hundreds of people from all over Fort Bend County, and we signed up. For years, our boys competed in the bike contest and my husband ran the course.
The best part of the Fourth of July in Pecan Grove was the fireworks display. That first year, neighbors told us to take a blanket and lawn chairs up to the golf course at dusk. When we saw the display the firefighters staged, we were amazed.
Those fun events are courtesy of the PGVFD and that’s in addition to their main directive, responding to 911 calls.
An Earned Prejudice
I’ve been accused of being prejudiced when it comes to the PGVFD, and I’ll admit that bias right up front. I’m one of their biggest fans, not only for what they’ve done for the neighborhood but for what they’ve done for me.
They came to my house one evening when I detected a burnt electrical smell. My husband was out of town so I called and asked if someone could come by and check out the house.
A team was at my house in less than 10 minutes and inspected the attic, the garage and every plug in the house.
I remember seeing the PGVFD volunteers at called-in emergencies and giving “good neighbor” talks at the elementary schools. Some of my favorite memories are when I took my Cub Scouts to the station and firefighters let them hold the big fire hose and pretend to put out a fire.
Most vividly, I remember the day when they pulled a young girl from a swimming pool and saved her life.
The PGVFD provides many more services, and it would take double this column space to list them all. Less than 30 percent of the residents in Pecan Grove pay for this service. That’s embarrassing.
The reasons I heard when I lived there was they thought another department covered Pecan Grove which is incorrect. There were those who lived in the apartments and thought they didn’t need to pay. You’re part of the neighborhood, and you need to pay for the services you receive.
There’s the disgruntled whiners who don’t want to pay an additional fee to the PGVFD because they already pay their taxes.
Justify that statement when your house is on fire and nobody’s there to put it out in time because you refused to pay $9 a month to the fire department.
I spend more than that on a medium take-out pizza.
If you live in an area where there’s a volunteer fire department, pay up and don’t let them get into the position the PGVFD finds itself – having to hold raffles and fund raisers to keep their doors open.
It’s time to step up. There are numerous donation sites, including one online at gofundme.com. You could also participate in the Five Miles My Way event on July 4. Applications and T-shirts are available at the PGVFD.
You could also buy lemonade from some enterprising youngsters in Pecan Grove who, unlike adults, understand the importance of firefighters.
Keep the PGVFD alive and support those who support you.
This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.