An achievement to be proud of

Residents of Oconee’s Cleveland community near the Georgia line take pride in 60 years of operating a volunteer fire department, an accomplishment of no small standing considering the difficulty these days to recruit volunteers.  But Travis Collins, the current fire department chief, said many a young man was reared in his community with the expectation that eventually he’d volunteer to fight fires.  Originally, when organized in 1964, the Cleveland Volunteer Fire Department, that’s all the community fire department did — answer fire calls. Today its volunteers are cross-trained and respond to a variety of calls such as medical emergencies, missing persons, and mishaps on nearby Lake Hartwell. On Saturday, September 28 at the fire station on the Cleveland Pike Road, the department invites the public for a 60-year celebration.  You can expect hot dogs, a number of speakers, along with the display of records and other material that track 60 years.