WAWARSING – The Ellenville Fire District will be hosting the 80th annual Ulster County Volunteer Firemen's Association parade Saturday July 25, with step-off scheduled for 1 p.m.

The event spans two days, with the UCVFA convention meeting taking place on Friday, July 24 at the Kerhonkson firehouse. During that meeting, Ellenville Fire District Chief John Avery Jr. said, association members will memorialize fallen firefighters, hold elections for new association officers, and award firemen-of-the-year as well as unit citation certificates.

Two Ellenville FD members — assistant fire chief Steve Grundt and firefighter Jeffrey North — are up for the award, Avery said. The two men bravely retrieved fellow firefighter Francis Roller and pulled him to safety after Roller fell through a kitchen floor while working an early morning structure fire on May 17 of last year.

Festivities begin Saturday at 9 a.m. with truck judging at the Ellenville Central School District parking lot. There are more than forty area departments participating in the parade, and a dozen bands accompanying the marching firefighters, presenting in full dress.

The trucks, Avery said, will be staged in the Green Acres area at noon, lining both Warren and Church Streets. The parade will then travel along Center Street, across Route 209, then back down Canal Street going east towards Berme Road Park, with the parade concluding just past Kimble Hose FD. Fire departments will then stick around for a 5 p.m. trophy presentation including live music by the Carl Richards Band.

"The bigger the crowd, the better," Avery said, noting that the parade is an opportune time to showcase the area departments' various trucks, apparatus and volunteers to residents, as well as a way to honor the volunteers who often times put their own lives at risk to save others.

Hosting the event in itself is an honor, Avery explained. Traditionally, the position of host falls to the outgoing UCVFA president's residence fire department. But in this case, Kerhonkson — hometown fire department of UCVFA president Joe Depuy Sr. — was unable to host. Ellenville FD stepped up, Avery said, and applied for the special privilege.

The association, formed in 1935, granted Ellenville the honor. But, with the privilege, comes a lot of responsibility, Avery explained. The host company, he added, is responsible for incurred parade costs including refreshments, awards/trophies, and participating bands.

"It's the year-end celebration; a chance to hand the torch down to the next officers, to showcase," Avery said. "It's going to be a good, fun-filled day honoring heroes."

Recent parades in 2012, 2013 and 2014 were hosted by Phoenicia, Wallkill and Saugerties, respectively.