Fair Haven’s New Centenarian: The Fire Department’s Auxiliary

There’s another centenarian in Fair Haven known to give 100 percent to its community.

The Fair Haven Fire Department Auxiliary, formerly the Ladies’ Auxiliary, turned 100 years old on March 21, making the volunteer organization just nine years younger than Fair Haven itself.

Ironically, March was Women’s History Month and the Auxiliary was founded as a women’s organization only a little more than seven months after women got the right to vote.

There were women firefighters out there 100 years ago. In fact, history dictates that women have been fighting fires for roughly 200 years, but very few. In fact, next door, in Red Bank, in the 1920s, shortly after the Fair Haven Ladies’ Auxiliary was borne, though, there was a first female firefighter in all of New Jersey at Westside Hose Co. No. 1. At 50, a woman named Emma Vernell became that firefighter at Westside after her firefighter husband, died in the line of duty.

There were none in Fair Haven back then, though, and not until 2006, when Debbie Hartman, became its first female firefighter, continuing a Hartman family legacy in the fire company.

So, back in the day, the idea of a ladies auxiliary was all the more integral. It was the best way for women to pitch in and join the fight to keep residents safe sans flames and what men may have deemed too dangerous for their wives and mothers of their children. It was also mostly unheard of for women to do what was deemed “a man’s job” then, keeping in mind that the right to vote was won only months before.

So, in Fair Haven, fireman Clarence Little found a way to involve the women eager to help, making them a true part of the team. The women, mostly wives of the volunteer firefighters in 1921, banded together, under the guidance of fireman Clarence Little, and formed the Ladies Auxiliary. Clarence’s wife, Elizabeth, was its first president. She passed away in 1961 at the age of 73.

The Auxiliary’s original role, since women back then were discouraged and all but banned, from being on the firefighting frontlines, was to provide support for the firemen. The ladies then rallied with an inferno’s might to the scenes of all fires and kept them nourished, serving coffee and water and other refreshments — replenishment and moral support. The ladies also organized events and fundraisers for the volunteer fire company. Support was and is the word.

The aim, altered over the years or not, has always been “to provide the Fire Company with whatever is needed for it to succeed at its mission,” as stated on the Fire Department website. And that Auxiliary members have always done.

The pride in the mission caught like wildfire.

“I am so very proud to say that I am a volunteer for the Fair Haven Volunteer Fire Company Auxiliary, said Dale Connor, Auxiliary president and 41-year member. “I think we stand out because the Auxiliary has been here for 100 years, so I think that’s saying a lot. I really don’t know if any other Ladies Auxiliaries are still active in
Monmouth County.”

There is one other, retaining the Ladies portion of the name — Freehold Township Independent Fire Company No. 1 Ladies Auxiliary.

The “Ladies” portion of the name was dropped in Fair Haven in 1989 to increase membership and allow men to join. There are presently two men in the Auxiliary: Gary Allers and Rick Robbins, Connor said.

Ladies only or men in the mix, the “backbone” of the Fair Haven Fire Department is what First Aid Squad member and Media Committee chair, Katy Badt Frissora called the Auxiliary.

Connor agreed, reflecting on changes over the four-plus decades she’s been a member. While it used to be a sought-after volunteer position so popular that people were turned away, volunteerism in fire companies throughout the U.S. has been on a downward trend for years, putting a strain on that backbone, not breaking it. In Fair Haven, it’s been much harder to get people to join the cause as members, but Connor and the rest of the membership hold out hope and the mission.

“It’s really hard to get new members, people just don’t want to volunteer anymore, it’s so sad,” Connor said. “It definitely has changed a lot!!! When I first started in the Ladies Auxiliary we had about 40 to 50 members!!! We might have 20 members now. Honestly, the auxiliary doesn’t do what it used to do. Back in the day, we had a lot more fires and that’s when we would go out to serve coffee, water, etc. I guess it’s really good that we don’t get fires like we used to.”

The mission is no more doused, though. There are fundraising events aplenty, many of which the Auxiliary hosts and/or participates in heavily.

Among them: wet downs, the annual spaghetti dinner, the Halloween parade, firemen’s fair, the car show, card parties, plant sales and more. And there used to be a pancake breakfast, for which the men cooked and ladies served.

And every two years, Connor reminded, the Auxiliary hosts a special firemen’s dinner just for the firefighters and first aid members as “a thank you for their hard work.”

The ladies have always “provided humor, social activities, charitable work, family and collegiality. I personally do not think FHFC would be what it is today if it wasn’t for the women (and then a few men in more recent years) who offered a balance to the adrenaline rush of fighting fires, adding a support system that was needed after the trucks were put away and the hose packed up.”
Katy Badt Frissora

There are two Auxiliary members still living who have seen the mission of the volunteers through decades of change, yet stay consistent in its manifestation of love for Fair Haven and the fire company.

The oldest living member of the Auxiliary is Jane Croft, a forever Fair Havenite, still in town, whose 89th birthday is today (more on Jane later). The longest serving member is Bobbie Malinconico by just one year more than Croft. She’s been with the organization for 62 years, 38 years short of its 100 years in existence.

Jane Croft with husband Jack (left) and Bobbie Malinconico back in the day and now (right)
Photos/FHFD Media

Connor, who was a kid to these women when she joined, knew and looked up to all in the Auxiliary. She and the others like her who have been with the Auxiliary for as long or nearly as long, she said, hope to one day look back, and remember eager newcomers in their first years who stuck with its mission with a content sigh and smile. That will happen with a renewing of volunteerism, she said, each volunteer strengthening that backbone.

“Behind every one of the 3,400 ‘man’ hours that show our statistical response time, there are thousands more hours of support by family, friends, kids and neighbors who make up this Fire Company,” Frissora recounted as part of a speech she made at the Fire Department’s 2011 Installation Dinner as an outgoing officer.
“I believe the Auxiliary exemplified that in the past and continue to do so as they begin their
next 100 years of service!”

Happy Birthday, Fair Haven Fire Department Auxiliary! Happy Birthday, Jane Croft! Cheers to many more years of volunteers!

Auxiliary meetings for many years were held every Thursday night. They are now held on the last Thursday of each month.
If you are interested in joining the all-volunteer Fair Haven Fire Department Auxiliary, Fire Company, Fire Police or First Aid Squad, click here.

— Photos/courtesy of FHFD Media

— Katy Badt Frissora contributed to the culling of research for this story