News : IFA convention wrap-up: GFD and VFD thank city, citizens

Scott Geissinger visited with the Vinton City Council last Thursday to share some numbers from the 2013 Iowa Firefighters Association Convention and to thank the community.

Below is the report from the Vinton and Garrison fire departments:

VINTON-GARRISON 2013 IFA CONVENTION

The Vinton and Garrison Fire Department members and their spouses would like to sincerely thank the City of Vinton for their cooperation in once again hosting this great event.

After 3 years of planning by 12 committees and almost 100 committee members, our Convention was very well received by everyone in attendance. This is due in part to the overwhelming hospitality the Vinton community showed our guests. Numerous comments were made about how the Firefighters and their families felt welcomed here. The merchants and citizens both did their part to show how great this community is.

Just a brief summary;

2107 IFA members/spouses registered

1474 Campsites were sold (estimated 800 campers)

265 Bowlers participated at Berry’s Lanes

560 Golfers (142 teams) invaded the Vinton Country Club

400 Golf carts were registered and inspected

84 entries took part in our parade

No outside vendors were brought in, the local merchants were the ones to benefit most and only non-profit groups were allowed on the courthouse area during contests Saturday.

Our focus was to keep everything as “local” as possible, but understanding an event this size requires some outside assistance.

HyVee catered the 2 meals, feeding over 2000 people in a matter of 3 hours each day.

12,000 sq ft tent was erected for the meals and dance to take place.

What took 6 weeks to create was disassembled in 10 hours.

This could not have taken place without the cooperation of all of the City Entities, the Benton County Fairboard, Vinton-Shellsburg Schools, the Wiese Family and the citizens of Vinton.