Thursday, October 27, was National American Beer Day, and October 28 was National First Responders Day, so why not celebrate with a nice cold craft brew in the company of some community heroes in support of the Dallas Firefighter’s Museum?
The Dallas Firefighter’s Museum is celebrating the legacy of Dallas firefighters and first responders at the Ladders and Lagers Festival from October 28-30. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. all three days at Community Beer Company, located at 3110 Commonwealth Dr. in Dallas.
There will be live music and vendors serving drinks and snacks.
Sponsored by the Dallas Firefighter’s Association, the festival will also hold the nationally acclaimed Firefighter Challenge — a competition featured on ESPN which annually attracts hundreds of North American municipal fire departments and puts them to the test.
The Firefighter Challenge replicates the true physical demands of the profession by having competitors race up a five-story tower, drag hoses, and rescue a life-sized 175 lb. “victim,” among other tests.
Register here to participate in one of the two Firefighter Challenge competitions.
The Ladders and Lagers Festival is even more special this year as it will celebrate not only 150 years of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department but also the 50-year anniversaries of Dallas EMS and the Dallas Firefighter’s Museum.
The three-day festival brings together family and friends to celebrate the legacy of Dallas Fire-Rescue and help raise money to renovate the Dallas Firefighter’s Museum. The institution has the mission of providing an educational and cultural-historical experience to its visitors by highlighting the foundation and history of Dallas firefighters, as well as continuing to teach them about fire safety.
Through its long partnership with the Dallas Independent School District and Dallas Fire-Rescue Fire and Safety Educators, the Dallas Firefighter’s Museum helps bring awareness and to help ensure the community is well-informed about staying safe in the event of an emergency.
The museum is housed in what was an active fire station between 1907 and 1975 at Fair Park. Still operated by firefighters — both on active duty and retired — the building continues to serve Dallas as a site of history and cultural heritage.
“It’s an old fire station, the building needs to be remodeled,” said Sherrie Wilson, the public information officer for the Dallas Firefighter’s Museum, speaking to The Dallas Express. “We need to raise money, we’re trying to raise $10 million dollars, that is our goal.”
“The museum is a labor of love for me,” said Trixie G. Lohrke, board president of the museum and retired 36-year battalion chief of Dallas Fire-Rescue. “But we need money, it’s an old but active fire station, and it’s taken on a lot of years and certainly needs a huge upgrade so that it can be a world-class museum and education center.”
You can buy tickets here for the Ladders and Lagers Festival and help raise funds for the museum.
Over 1,000 attendees are expected per day, and seating is limited. People are recommended to bring their own lawn chairs.