PORT TREVORTON — After 60 years of dedicated service to the community in times of crisis, the Port Trevorton Fire Company will kick back, relax and celebrate its first-ever firemen’s parade on June 4.

Members also will hold their first firemen’s carnival in nearly 30 years.

The celebrations come on the heels of a communitywide effort that made the construction of a new fire station possible last year.

“Ninety-five percent of the labor was donated,” said member Bob Hassinger. Several members put their plumbing and electrical skills to use, and local residents, including people from the Mennonite community, contributed labor and talent.

“Community support really makes it happen,” Fire Chief Doug Lauver said.

Funds for the new building still are being raised through donations, dinners and events such as Oktoberfest last fall and the coming carnival.

“We’ve had very good community support,” Hassinger said. “The people around here are excellent.”

The new fire station is in front of the old one. It has five bays, compared to the previous two — room for each piece of equipment to quickly and easily get in and get out. And it lines Main Street. The old building sits on a hill behind it.

“We don’t have to fight with the ramp in the winter time,” Lauver said.

They also no longer have to waste time taking out one vehicle at a time and strategically parking them all after a call.

“It was dangerous,” said Brenda Hassinger, chairwoman of the fire company for the past two years. “We were running out of space for equipment.” The fire company owns an engine, tanker, rescue, squad and brush truck.

The old building, now being used as a prep room, contains the community hall, where dinners and events are held throughout the year.

The fire company’s recent strides forward are a result of new members having new ideas, said member Bill Weaver. And pointing to two younger members standing by his side, he said, “Twenty years from now, these young bucks will have something.”

In the past, “the older members didn’t want to spend the money,” he said.

In the mid-1980s, the company sold its carnival rides because it needed the money, said life member John Hoover, who is one of four generations of his family who has served with the company.