The first Celebrate Rockbridge event will be held on Saturday, July 22, at Brewbaker Park from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will feature a salute to the 12 fire departments and other first responders in the county.
Musical entertainment will be provided by the band Wonder and a highlight will be a tug of war challenge contest between the various fire departments for the Devin Reilly Memorial Trophy, named in honor of the 18-year-old Goshen volunteer fireman killed in a car accident.
The event was started by the Rockbridge Breakfast Club to honor first responders as well as to promote various community and civic organizations as a way to attract new members and volunteers to become involved. It will also be a place for businesses and industries seeking employees to meet with people interested in finding employment in the county.
Many organizations will be taking part in the event, ranging from youth groups to environmental businesses. Among those, the Rockbridge SPCA will have a collection of animals available for adoption, and Earth Magic will show how they are locally recycling tons of bottles and jars into various products. Several fire engines and first responder officials and equipment will be on hand for the event.
The Devin Reilly Memorial Trophy includes a fire helmet on a large wooden base and will be awarded annually to a fire department winning the challenge of the year. This year the challenge will be a tug of war event at the baseball diamond at the park.
The Rockbridge Breakfast Club is an organization of people from all over the county seeking to improve the communities and rural area by encouraging involvement in area organizations, increasing employment and economic opportunity as well as recognizing the groups and individuals such as first responders.