By Stephen Smoot
Last week, the Franklin Volunteer Fire Department announced two changes in how they will take part in community recreation and celebration.
First, they stated that they will not operate the food stand for the Treasure Mountain Festival as they have been. Said the FVFD in a release that “our main goal is to provide fast, skilled, and adequate response to calls for service.”
One of the conditions created by TMF is a temporarily expanded population. A festival atmosphere features fun and that plus thousands more people means that “our call volume has the potential to grow each TMF weekend.” Providing a consistent level of first response service inevitably pulls department volunteers from the food stand, making it difficult to operate.
Additionally, “we emphasize the importance of family and many of our members have other family obligations related to the festival.” All that said, FVFD said it will review this decision in 2026 and determine if the stand should return at that point.
FVFD will continue to do “our annual boot drive/bucket shake Saturday” and have more fundraisers planned in the coming months.
Though not stated in the release, Pendleton County officials in recent years have sounded the alarm about the decreasing number of young people joining the fire service and emergency medical services in the area.
As the role of the FVFD diminishes somewhat during TMF, the organization also announced plans for “a more predictable and enhanced” lawn party for 2026.
County volunteer fire departments and other emergency services in Pendleton County rely on lawn parties to raise funds for needs. The FVFD will hold its 2026 lawn party on July 3 and 4, also “taking control of the event schedule.”
A release from the department stated that “we anticipate a greater turnout for the 4th” and “the event will feature fireworks, along with various other activities, and we look forward to seeing everyone there this year.”
