NORWICH – Volunteer firefighters of the Maydole Hose Company - the oldest fire company in the City of Norwich - responded to a rare non-emergency call at the North East Classic Car Museum on Rexford Street Saturday to commemorate another great milestone: the company’s 126th anniversary.

Not only was Saturday’s gala a chance for members of the Maydole Hose Company to pay homage to its current volunteers, but it was also a chance memorialize the hundreds who served before them. Of the 52 active and inactive members currently associated with the Maydole Hose Company, more than 40 were in attendance for the awards banquet, which featured photographs of the fires stifled by members past and present; artifacts collected from past and present members over the years; and a solemn reminder of the agency’s heritage that has helped foster more than 500 volunteer firefighters since its inception 126 years ago.

This year, inactive members were presented golden trumpets for their years of service. The trumpet, once used as a mouthpiece by the fire department foreman to keep order of his firefighters, remains a modern-day symbol that signifies one’s rank as an officer within the fire department.