Niverville’s fire department has decided to opt-out of its annual Remembrance Day Perogy Dinner Fundraiser.

According to Fire Chief Keith Bueckert, the decision was made after volunteers made it known that they were not comfortable serving in the current climate.

“We just thought, the way everything is going with COVID right now, it would probably be in everyone’s best interest to just take the year off,” says Bueckert.

The fire chief assures that they will be back next year and laments the lack of opportunities his crew has had to engage the public this year.

“With everything being shut down, we haven’t been able to do a lot of our public education stuff in the schools,” shares Bueckert. “We like to be out in the community and doing what we can, and this year we haven’t been able to do that.”

The good news is that the department had some money remaining from last year’s fundraiser and was able to purchase four new wet suits and some life jackets. A pressing need considering the original ones, received approximately 15 years ago, were beginning to develop leaks.

“In the event that we have to do some type of water or ice rescue, we now have new suits that don’t leak and get guys all wet and cold,” explains Bueckert before relaying his gratitude for previous fundraiser support.

“We just want to say thank you to the community for always supporting us. It’s wonderful.”