The Eisenberg Feuerwehr's Fruehschoppen, Done & Dusted.

The new fire engine gets blessed.

In a normal year this Frühschoppen is a busy affair and one that keeps us volunteers on our feet. This year, being the inaugural year of the new fire engine, it was bound to be even bigger, and it was complete with a church service by the local priest blessing this vehicle ( not such a bad idea as this is a truck that might see bad things ) plus all the dignitaries and politicians. Oh yes, even in a small village.

This was my second year of helping and Bob's third. He is the stalwart sorting out the cleaning of glasses...can't run out of glasses as people tend to be thirsty and thankfully for the club's coffers like to drink more than a glass. There must have been at least 600 people there, if not more.

My job was the same as the first year but my memory had faded quite a bit and luckily so as otherwise I might have faked a cold! No, not really but honestly, washing all the cutlery and coffee cups is only nice the first few hours and than the bubble of enthusiasm is smartly pricked by many a fork daring you to clean it through the soapy suds of dishwater.

The boss had purchased a new lot of coffee cups and they are rather pretty yet also very bereft in numbers. Thirty six to be precise ( well, after about 4 hours of washing them in a never ending loop, one slipped through my numb fingers and broke ) and that meant a quick turnaround. The various waiters kept on bringing the odd dirty coffee cup until I said;

" Oh, thanks so much. We need them as we've only got thirty six. You're angel. "

" I'll try my best, but I can't very well rip it out of their hands while they're still drinking it! "

...needless to say that from then on I had a steady supply of cups to be washed. In a way I needn't have worried as there were only two coffee machines making one cup at a time.

The nice thing about repetitive chores is that it allows you time to meander around the avenues of your mind, which surprisingly enough makes you forget about the odd pain in your back, or your funny looking water soaked hands. Look, I wouldn't volunteer to do this every weekend and it makes me appreciate the people who have to do this all day long to earn a living, but I enjoyed yesterday despite my odd grumbles.

Of course, it is great to be working as a team, in a team and wearing a team t-shirt. Volunteer work is the glue that binds a community together. Well, there you are, another Frühschoppen successfully done and dusted.

Biggi