Jim Keith & Vic Megenity are honored at the “2024 Members Wine and Cheese Event.”
January 26, 6-8 PM, 2024
Both have done tremendous service to the Museum and both have done great community service in other areas.
Honors Jamey Aebersold on its “Appreciation Day”
March 2023
The Vintage Fire Museum on its annual “Appreciation Day” honored Jamey Aebersold for the remarkable benefits he has brought to this community and for his special support of the Museum.
Not only is Jamey a renowned jazz musician whose ensemble regularly brings spectacular music to events; he is also a famous jazz educator whose marvelous writings and recordings are widely used throughout the world. He especially loves helping young people both to get started in jazz and to polish their skills. Jamey doesn’t reserve his extraordinary skills only for national and international occasions; he does those, but he is exceedingly generous in making time for audiences in this community.
At the Vintage Fire Museum, we have benefitted directly from his bringing beautiful jazz to key events, and he has done so for years – coupling this with wonderful financial contributions.
Jamey also devotes great energy in promoting key causes. A perfect example is his dedication to making everyone aware of the great dangers in smoking, and he has been doing this for a long time with significant success.
Jamey also has quite a remarkable hobby: he records the number of free throws made in a row (53!) and for the number of 3-pointers made in a row from random spots (26!!).
We are very happy to honor Jamey Aebersold with this award, and we know that people far and wide share our appreciation and thankfulness.
The Vintage Fire Museum and Safety Education Center, Inc. expresses its heartfelt appreciation for important and generous donations from area organizations.
September 2022
1) Dow Chemical Company, Louisville site has donated a 1963 International Harvester model 461 fire truck with firefighting apparatus manufactured by National Foam System. The truck was purchased by Rohm and Haas, Louisville, in 1963 and has continued in service since then. This truck will be displayed in parades and available for viewing by visitors.
2) Jeffersonville Main Street, Inc. has awarded a storefront improvement grant of $1,300 for roof lighting for signage and installation of vintage light fixtures.
Both gifts make possible the continued improvement of the Vintage Fire Museum.
Vintage Fire Museum Receives a Grant for Honoring Firefighters from Caesars Foundation
July 2022
The Vintage Fire Museum and Safety Education Center thanks the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County for their generous grant in support of the Memorial Area honoring firefighters from Southern Indiana and other areas for their vital service to all of us. The Memorial includes a large boulder with a brass plaque showing the Firefighter Maltese Cross and stating, “With deep gratitude, we honor all firefighters for their great courage, dedication, and sacrifice,” several vintage light poles given from the estate of Doug Dauenhauer, a new flagpole for a U.S. flag and a Maltese Cross flag, large firefighter photos on the Museum’s front windows, and further decoration. The grant of $14,500 is a significant contribution toward this project.
Special Blood Drive to Honor Lee Taylor
November 2021
Lee Taylor was a proud member of the Louisville fire department for 36 years and retired asMajor and Battalion Chief. He began donating blood in 1960 and donated regularly for the next 52 years. Today his grandson, Javier Bernhard continues to his legacy by hosting a blood drive in his honor for an Eagle Scout project.
Saturday, November 13, 2021 from 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM at First Christian Church, 3209 Middle Road, Jeffersonville, IN 47130
For an appointment, please visit redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code: TaylorsTitans
Grant Recieved from Samtec Cares
August 2021
The Vintage Fire Museum and Safety Education Center is pleased to announce a grant of $22,500 from Samtec Cares for the purchase of props for its new safety education area and for the memorial that will be developed to honor firefighters. We are gratified by this recognition, and we extend special thanks to Samtec Cares for their generosity and for their support of the Museum and of the community.
New Building Purchased
January, 2021
The Vintage Fire Museum is pleased to announce that plans have developed to enable the Museum to continue and to advance in downtown Jeffersonville directly across Spring Street from its current location. We are excited about the future and look forward to continuing to serve the Kentuckiana community and to receive visitors from across the nation and the world.
Through our Capital Campaign began last summer, we purchased a recently renovated building directly across the street (706 Spring, Jeffersonville) along with an empty lot to the building’s north side. At its January meeting, the Fire Museum’s board voted unanimously to move the fabulous collection to that site and to not miss a step in our service to the public. We are beginning to move some display cases and accessories now, but we continue our regular hours and tours (with careful practices to guard against Covid-19) at the current site and then we will continue them at 706 Spring when we move the main pieces in early spring.
In keeping with our Capital Campaign commitments, we are building advanced safety education exhibits and will later also be constructing the memorial garden to honor firefighters.
While the pandemic has cut into the number of tour groups visiting our area and has reduced our total visitation, we have continued to host many families and individuals – including a surprisingly large number from across the nation.
We have, of course, regular expenses for utilities, insurance, and more, so the need for ongoing support through memberships is real. In addition, we have received over $275,000 in the Capital Campaign, but we still need approximately $300,000 to fully meet our goal and pay off the building totally along with the safety education and memorial garden improvements. We invite you to become a member if you are not already and to consider a Capital Campaign donation.
You can establish your 2021 membership at the Museum or on the website (vintagefiremuseum.org).
You may make a contribution to the Capital Campaign by requesting a Campaign brochure and donation form through the website, at the Museum, or by contacting Curtis Peters, board chair (502-599-2522 or curtandpam@earthlink.net). Donors to the Capital Campaign in larger amounts will be honored on a plaque in the Museum.
We thank the community for its support and look forward to an exciting future.
812-282-4705
vfmuseum@gmail.com|
www.vintagefiremuseum.org
We Are Moving
Spring 2020
First and most important, we continue to be open and serve the public at this challenging time. We observe our regular hours (Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 4 PM) with special precautions to keep everyone safe – including wearing masks and social distancing.
You may have heard that on November 18, 2020, the Redevelopment Commission of the City of Jeffersonville with a split vote exercised a clause in the rental agreement with the Museum whereby it can give a 180-day notice of lease termination. The stated purpose is to make the building available for a possible sale or transfer in the future.
So what will happen to the Museum? Our commitment is and continues to be to serve the Kentuckiana community through education on firefighting history and fire safety as well as by honoring firefighters for their courage, dedication, and sacrifice.
We are privileged to have a nationally known and highly regarded collection of vintage fire equipment dating back to 1756 and to welcome thousands of visitors each year from throughout this nation and other countries to marvel over its design and beauty. It’s right here – a national treasure.
We are privileged to have a volunteer board and volunteer guides and workers made up of active and retired firefighters, educators, historians, business leaders, pastors, and community leaders. They are from Jeffersonville, New Albany & Floyd County, Clarksville and Clark County, Louisville, Oldham County, Jackson County (IN), and Evansville.
We are privileged to have the wonderful support of families, individuals, businesses, foundations, fire departments, and government agencies and offices.
We are privileged to be a cultural centerpiece in Jeffersonville’s Arts and Cultural District, to have worked closely with the other players in this District and to have been a leader in starting the development of the area north of Court Avenue.
Our mission: To collect, preserve, and display firefighting equipment in a museum of national significance for the education of schoolchildren and adults. We are dedicated to preserve, educate, inspire, and celebrate firefighting in America.
We do not know exactly what the future will bring, and we are exploring options, but we are committed to serve. We appreciate our many supporters and visitors.
Thank you!