Rolling in the dough

I have been around dozens - hundreds - of volunteer fire companies, and the one thing they all have in common is this - they have to have some sort of revenue source to keep operating. Sometimes they get some sort of stipend from the local government, but not all counties do this. It costs big bucks to purchase and maintain fire and EMS apparatus, so volunteer companies have always had to be creative.

From demolition derbies to carnivals to music concerts to firehouse suppers, they have to work hard to come up with the money to serve the public. I thought this was interesting on the Library Of Congress page. In 1942, the volunteer fire company in Bantam, Connecticut, installed a bowling alley in the basement of the firehouse. 

Every night of the week, there were matches between groups, and the caption read that there were several hot rivalries going on. I can see the Plumbers vs the Steamfitters, the farmers vs the grocers, the Presbyterian choir against the Lutheran singers...a fun night out for the bowlers and their friends and families...