Malta Ridge Fire Department History

Chris Morrell has been a member of the Malta Ridge Volunteer Fire Company since 1958, which is most of its history, about which he spoke at this morning's meeting.

The first fire truck was purchased in 1947, used. It lacked a windshield, so the driver wore goggles. But a decade later they had the biggest tanker truck in Saratoga County. That truck and its successors were often called to help out other fire departments, including Saratoga Springs. Morrell worked as a professional firefighter in that city from 1966 to 1973, and then went into law enforcement. 

He spent 20 years with the Saratoga County Sheriff's Department, then worked in Vermont police departments, for the New York State Park Police, and the US Marshals Service. He also spent 11 years on the Malta Town Board, and continues to serve the town on committees dealing with ethics, updating the master plan, and water/sewer issues.

Brookside Museum Update

Jim Richmond, right, who was our speaker this morning, talks to Malta Town Historian Paul Perreault after the meeting.

Jim has co-written a history of the Town of Milton, and wrote a 2016 book, "War on the Middleline",  about a 1780 Revolutionary War raid in Saratoga County. A GE retiree, he is coordinator of the Saratoga History Round Table, and is involved with ongoing efforts to revitalize the Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa, recruit volunteers and stabilize its finances.

Club Donates $1,000 to African Projects

At this week's business meeting, we made donations of $500 each to two projects in Africa.
One of the donations was to Qholaqhoe Mountain Connections in Lesotho, which we have been helping support since 2014, and to which we last donated in November 2018. The contribution will help fund scholarships and a feeding program in a drought-stricken rural area.

The other contribution is to help fund projects in Uganda undertaken by a group associated with the Presbyterian-New England Congregational Church of Saratoga Springs (PNECC), which will embark on a mission trip in February. The group, which includes our members Paul Phillips and Barbara Conner, will work on medical clinics and educational projects, including building a new classroom and installing a solar water pump with underground tanks. PNECC partners with the nonprofit AOET, which facilitates sponsorships and provides services in Uganda mostly to children, not excluding anyone on the basis of religion. Participants in the PNECC trip pay for their own travel and other expenses. AOET-Uganda's child social welfare officer, Teo Nakubulwa, spoke to our club last June.

In other business, we discussed possibly holding a pancake breakfast on March 29 at the Malta Ridge Fire House, and a roadside cleanup on Dunning Street on April 4.