West Pawlet’s Woodchuck Festival next week

By Linda Ellingsworth

For the 12th year, West Pawlet will celebrate its rural heritage with the good-natured annual Woodchuck Festival.

This year’s festival, co-sponsored by the West Pawlet Volunteer Fire Department and the West Pawlet Ladies Auxiliary, will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Mettawee Community School, 5788 Vermont Route 153.

The event is free and open to the public.

The family-friendly event has something for everyone, from a silent auction, craft vendor market, home-made baked goods and great food at the firemen’s Woodchuck Café.

After browsing the crafts, guests can enjoy watching the challenging firemen’s games set up by the West Pawlet Fire Department. Visiting fire companies show up to compete in various scenarios, which are different each year.

“We change it up a bit every year,” said organizer Dave Hosley of the West Pawlet Fire Department.
One constant each year is the start of the competition, the “Midnight Alarm,” in which firefighters first have to get their turnout gear on before they approach the first challenge – sliding down a culvert from a flat-bed truck, and then returning to the flat-bed by going back up the culvert.

From there, firefighters move on to other firematic games that will be a surprise, and then on to the rescue portion of the event.

“We don’t set it up until the night before so nobody has an idea what they’re up against,” said Hosley.

He noted that anywhere from five to eight fire companies usually compete for plaques and a Telescope chair for first prize. Rupert has won the competition more than any other company, and has also participated every year since the event’s inception.

Companies also come from as far as Benson, Dorset, and Fort Edward. While West Pawlet would like the other fire departments to register in advance, many show up that day unannounced.

“It’s a fun afternoon,” Hosley said. “You never know who the competition is going to be. It’s a way to get guys together who usually only see each other when things are bad.”

Hosley said that the event is based on a firemen’s muster that the Rupert Fire Department held for several years.

“That’s what it’s modeled after,” he commented. “It’s a way to build camaraderie between the departments.”