Park Hills Fire Department will be reinstating its “Halloweenie” tradition this year.
It started in 1954 when the firefighters decided they wanted to have something to give out to the dozens of happy, costumed children who would walk past the firehouse as they canvassed the neighborhood for candy and treats.
What would be better, they thought, than hot dogs?
“We have kept up the tradition,” said Chief John Scott Rigney, who has been at the department since 1988, but has been chief since 2013. “We didn’t do it for the last two years because of COVID, but we are back this year, with hot dogs and drinks for the kids, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Halloween. We will also have some fire prevention material available since October is fire prevention month, but the big draw is the food.”
Rigney said this is a tradition that hearkens back to the time when the firehouse was a definite part of small communities like Park Hills, where kids and adults regularly walked past it and knew the firefighters by name. On nice nights sometimes people would sit down with the firefighters on duty and just talk about stuff.
“Our event is almost like a supper,” said Rigney. “There was a period where we set the time to 7 to 8 p.m., but people always showed up early, especially when they had little ones, so we adjusted and put the time back to 6 to 8 pm.”
He agreed that sometimes children were too excited to eat supper at their homes, but parents could talk them into a hot dog at the firehouse.
Dennis Finke started his firefighter career on Halloween: Oct. 31, 1967.
“I remember it was always a hectic two-hour time, but I never missed it,” he said, adding that he was coming up on 55 years this Halloween. “I didn’t have a defined job, none of us did. Sometimes I grilled the hot dogs, sometimes I got buns ready, and sometimes I was on the drinks. I can remember when I visited my grandparents in Park Hills when I was young, they would bring me up to the firehouse on Halloween because I loved firehouses and firetrucks. I loved going up there.”
Very likely the tradition was started by Frank Dreyer, who was chief for 20 years from the mid-fifties to the mid-seventies, according to Rigney. Former chief Dreyer had a tradition of wearing a Dalmatian mask to the event, which made an impression on — well, everyone.
At the regular Park Hills city council meeting Monday night, councilman Joe Shields asked Rigney if the Dalmation was going to make an appearance, and Rigney laughed, knowing it was probably a memory from Shields’ childhood. But he told Shields, it could happen!
“One year we served up to 1,000 hot dogs,” Rigney remembered. “Sometimes it was cold, or sometimes rainy, and other times it was nice out. Crowds depended on the weather, and if something else was going on, like if it was a Friday night, and there was a football game going on.”
Dennis Finke remembered that it was always a big deal, and a lot of people came.
“Sometimes the kids would cry, and we had a firetruck off on the side, so the parents would put them up on the firetruck and the tears stopped,” he said. “There was a feeling of trust back then, and firefighters were definitely looked up to. They were like heroes in the small communities, and a lot of kids wanted to be firefighters.”
This year Rigney said he ordered about 700 hot dogs, which will be grilled over a propane grill. When the event started, the grill was powered by charcoal. He said sometimes the event wouldn’t be over until about 8:30 pm, but no one really minded if they were still busy. Rigney likes doing the event, and he feels like it adds a homey touch, to visit the neighborhood firehouse.
“I feel like it’s kind of giving something back, providing people with a little something extra,” he said. “We don’t do an open house, so this is a chance for us to visit with the community and let them know we are available to talk to them. It is definitely worth a little above and beyond.”
