SHENANDOAH -- A seven-foot by seven-foot frame holding 100 pictures of firefighters from the original Humane Hose Fire Company sits in an antique store in Georgia.
But the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society wants to buy it and bring this precious piece of history home.
"We want to bring our boys back home. We want to bring them back to Schuylkill county where they belong," said Mike Kitsock, president of the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society.
Kitsock takes pride in maintaining all the county's fire fighting memorabilia, so he is trying to raise $5,000 to "bring back our boys."
"These are heroes from the Civil War, our heroes, and I think they deserve a better fate than sitting on some antique shop on the floor."
Thomas Lowe of Pottsville spent 40 years as a firefighter at Humane Fire Company. As a boy, he remembers the frame from 1892 hanging inside the original fire company building, before the building was torn down and the memorabilia auctioned off.
It would be a piece of his history returned, and a piece of Schuylkill County history brought back if the fire society can raise the money to bring these "boys" back.
"As a Humaner, this is part of my heritage. I wanted to be the first person to at least give some money towards it, bringing it back home," Lowe said.
Anyone interesting in donating to the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society, can mail donations to:
Schuylkill Historical Fire Society
105 S. Jarden Street
Shenandoah, PA 17976
