The Evening Sun | Maydole Hose Co. Tends To Graves Of 100-plus Former Members

NORWICH

—

Members

of

the

Maydole

Hose

Company

#2

spent

Saturday

morning

replacing

worn

out

grave

markers

and

American

flags

at

the

resting

sites

of

more

than

120

former

members

at

Mt.

Hope

and

St.

Paul’s

Cemeteries

in

Norwich

“We

go

and

refurbish,

take

the

old

flags

out,

and

then

we

always

put

new

flags

in.

Always.

And

then

repair

any

of

the

markers

or

change

them,

and

we

do

it

here

[at

Mount

Hope

Cemetery]

and

up

at

Saint

Paul’s,”

said

Maydole

Hose

Co.

President

Pat

Ford.

“Then

we

have

some

members

that

take

flags

with

them

that

have

relatives

or

something

that

might

be

in

Mount

Upton

cemetery

or

wherever.

So

that’s

basically

what

we

do.”

Volunteer

firefighters

with

the

Maydole

Hose

Co.

visit

the

cemeteries

every

year

on

the

weekend

before

Memorial

Day

to

replace

any

aged

or

damaged

grave

markers

stamped

with

the

Company’s

name,

and

they

replace

all

of

the

American

flags

placed

on

the

graves

of

former

members.

Ford

said

this

practice

has

been

a

tradition

of

the

Maydole

Hose

Company

since

it’s

inception

136

years

ago.

This

year,

eight

members

of

the

Maydole

Hose

Co.

assisted,

as

well

as

one

member’s

teenage

son.

Ford

said

the

effort

is

made

easier

thanks

to

the

hard

work

of

Maydole

Hose

Co.

Member

Jim

Williams.

“One

of

our

members

years

ago

came

down

and

spent

days

going

through

the

log

…

and

found

Maydoles

that

we

weren’t

doing.

It

took

a

long

time,”

he

said.

“We

do

it

by

sections.

So

like

Mike

[Powell]

will

do

this

section,

and

somebody

else

on

that

section.

We

just

wander

around.”

The

Maydole

Hose

Co.

is

one

of

four

volunteer

fire

companies

in

Norwich,

and

was

formed

in

1887

by

employees

of

the

David

Maydole

Hammer

Factory.

2023

marks

the

company’s

136th

year

in

existence.

The

Maydole

Hose

Company

also

makes

an

effort

to

give

back

to

the

community.

Each

year

they

host

a

children’s

Easter

egg

hunt

in

East

and

West

Park,

and

they

make

donations

to

the

Norwich

Junior

Football

League,

the

Norwich

High

School

SADD

chapter

for

their

after-prom

party,

a

volunteer

firemen’s

retirement

home,

and

the

Tunnel

to

Towers

Foundation,

which

provides

housing

to

veterans,

first

responders,

and

their

families.

This

year

the

Company

also

made

a

donation

to

Stanford

J.

Gibson

Primary

School

in

Norwich,

which

provided

a

supply

of

children’s

winter

hats,

gloves,

coats,

and

boots

to

kids

in

need.

Ford

said

they

plan

to

continue

the

tradition

of

caring

for

their

fellow

firefighters

and

Hose

Co.

members.

“The

fire

department

and

the

firemen

themselves

have

a

tradition

of

helping

each

other,

and

a

lot

of

these

people,

we

saw

them

all

through

their

sickness

and

everything

when

they

got

sick,

and

helped

their

families.

It’s

just

a

continuation

of

our

taking

care

of

each

other,”

Ford

explained.

“You

see

these,

you

go

by

them,

and

you

think

of

all

the

memories

you

had

with

this

individual

…

A

lot

of

the

families

aren’t

around

here

anymore,

so

there’s

nobody

here

to

take

care

of

the

graves.”

“We’re

here,

we’re

going

to

do

it.

As

long

as

I’m

around,

we’re

going

to

do

it,”

he

added.

“It’s

just

the

right

thing

to

do.”