The Easton Fireman’s Carnival Is in Town!

As evening draws near, Sport Hill Road in Easton becomes lined with families, youth adults, and kids making their way to the Fireman’s Carnival.  As they approached the green at Center Road, the lights and sounds of the rides filled the air. You could feel the fun and excitement as you entered the green.  

Celebrating its 100th anniversary, the Fireman’s Carnival is an annual summer event.  There are rides, games, and food for everyone. The food ranges from hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza frites, french fries, sausage and peppers, steak sandwiches, and drinks. A particular culinary treat is the peach cobbler. The delicious desserts are prepared by the firefighters’ spouses and families.

“The peach cobbler dan peach pie is a tradition that people love,” Ellen Waugh, with the Siren Aide Club of the Easton Fire Company, says. “This is the 100th anniversary of the Easton Volunteer Fire Company.  We bake the biscuits upstairs each day and hand whip the cream down here at the site — so you can’t get a fresher peach dish.”  The tent was filled with people enjoying the treats.

The green quickly became filled. Richard Stewart is president of Stewart Amusement Company, which provides the rides and games for the event says. “Looks like we have a big crowd here today,” he says. “People are anxious to get out now that Covid has died down.”  He estimates that there will be about 2,000 people coming to the carnival each night.

The lines are long as families with young children wait to get on the rides.  There are rides for toddlers and older folks. The teenagers gravitate toward the wilder ones. Devon Carothers brought the family to the event. “This is our favorite tradition with our best friends,” she says, “It’s so much fun to see our kids’ excitement, and we get to see it through their eyes every year.”

In one of the largest tents, people sit at tables playing bingo. With a colorful marker, individuals stamp the numbers on a paper called out by one of the fireman announcers. Sitting at one of the tables is Rachel Monn. “This is our first time going to the carnival,” she says. “I haven’t played bingo since I was 10 years old.”

The proceeds from the carnival go to cover the volunteer fire company’s’ costs for fuel, insurance, electricity, building and ground maintenance, and other needs and expenses. Chief Steve Waugh loves the event. “We hope everyone comes down and enjoys themselves,” he says.

As darkness closes in, the night sky is awash with the many colors of the carnival rides. The crowds have grown larger and the laughter even louder. Robert Andrews, who brought his two-year-old grandson to the carnival, has been coming here since he was a child. “I love the Easton carnival,” he says. “I always support the Fireman’s carnival.” He is 45 years old.