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14/08/1991
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22/07/1995
07/07/1998
  
                 
10/08/2000
15/08/2002
CONSTRUCTION

OPEN DAYS... are a progression from the early days of fund raising which began with the bed push. As part of Fire Prevention week the Chief Fire Officer instructed the Fire Prevention department to open fire stations to the public. This was to encourage the public into the stations and at the same time give fire safety messages.

The caliber of Ammanford personnel lead to a discussion where it was decided that in order to bring them in, especially in large numbers we needed something special to attract them. Thereby the format of the Open Day was born. Its construction and ingenuity of stalls are credited to the men themselves and soon we had a fairground atmosphere that brought them in, in droves.

It must be said at this point that Ammanford Fire Station was the first station in Dyfed to pioneer this format. I would not be surprised if it was the first in the country. However it caught on big time. Other stations soon got on board and sharing of stalls took off. When a station put their heads together and produce this, imagine how much it can improve when a brigade gets involved.

Can we also take this opportunity to thank those that have helped us and thank those that will in the future help, especially to the Christian Church who yearly lend us tables and chairs. We also like to thank those that advertise in our program. This brings in a large amount of our total money. Equally important, to T. D. Williams for the canvas tarpaulin and Trailer, Maypole and Mono for the scaffolding, which without we wouldn't have our bar and stalls. In the past we have borrowed combined folding tables and stools from Amman Valley Comprehensive school, and Xmas bulb strings from Dinefwr Council. May the helping hand always continue.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Setting up view 1Setting up view 2

The ingenuity that brought together two of our principle contributors, TD Williams, and in this year, Maypole Scaffolding. The blue and white marquee was owned by Dyfed Fire Brigade which has since been sold so we now rent from .............. which does take a large sum from our final figures.

Setting up view 3Setting up view 4

A tarpaulin sheet this size cannot be had from a builder. It takes a haulage contractor like TD Williams, who has sufficient to spare and lend. Thank you again.

The open days take a number of days to set up, and one day to pull down. A lot of hard work carried out by most of the crews ensure that the day begins on time.

An ariel view. From the days of the Hydraulic Platform

This is an example of a typical open day. The amount of money we raise is dependant on you, the public, of which the money you spend goes to donations for our National Fire Service Benevolent Fund and Local Charities.

The day normally starts at 12'o clock. It is sometimes opened by celebrities or local dignitaries with the Station Officer acting as compère. Peter .......disco provides the music through the day and into the night during our barbecue. We make our own refreshments and sell rolls and hamburgers. There are books, jumble clothes, and gift stalls as well as the fairground side stalls and on a good day bring in an average of £40 to £80 each.
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