Ground Breaking / Blessing Ceremony, June 16, 2003

Photos

Speech Given by Jim Drzewiecki:
On behalf of Twin District, thank you to the local dignitaries for attending and for your support. Thank you to Schied Architectural, Lehigh Construction Group and M&T Bank. Without all of your support and expertise, this project would have been very difficult to manage. Thank you to all of the Company Officers and Building Committee members that helped facilitate this project.

The fact that volunteer fire fighting is such a dangerous line of work forces me to consider this as much a ground “blessing” ceremony as it is a ground “breaking” ceremony. May we operate safely out of the new facility through it’s existence.

The planning and design process for this project took over one year and is due to the dedication of our Officers, membership and our contractors. This afternoon’s groundbreaking ceremony marks the beginning of its transformation from the planning stage to a physical reality.

The creation we begin today is more than a physical place. It is the embodiment of the ideas and ideals of the current firefighters and Officers of Twin District. It will be a place where we can remember the past and look to the future of our volunteer service.

This new building will provide an environment in which to learn as well as to teach future fire fighters and EMS providers and it will give us ample space to carry out our administrative and Firematic duties for many years to come.

Importantly, this project expresses our strong commitment to the Town of Lancaster and the surrounding communities in which we provide Mutual Aid. By housing our fire fighting equipment, offices and exercise equipment, this new facility will help ensure that we do our jobs efficiently and in a safe manner.

I am proud to be part of such an outstanding organization made up of 100% volunteers and I am very proud to be here today for such an event. On this note, on behalf of Twin District, it is my pleasure to initiate the commencement of work on the building and renovation project. Let us now dig the first spades of soil. From then on, however, Twin District will hand the task of completion to the very capable people at Schied Architectural and Lehigh Construction Group, who will, I am quite sure, do their customary excellent job!