Wilmot Heritage Fire Brigade honours Blaine Bechthold with lifetime membership

Blaine Bechthold receives an honorary lifetime membership in the Wilmot Heritage Fire Brigades from president Peter Gingerich. Contributed photo

By Gary West

At its Feb. 18 monthly meeting, the Wilmot Heritage Fire Brigade recognized longtime supporter Blaine Bechthold with an honorary lifetime membership.

Bechthold has dedicated more than 30 years to the museum, from its earliest concept to the operation of the Wilmot Heritage Fire Brigades Museum in Baden.

Brigades president Peter Gingerich said the museum began with little more than an idea.

“It was started with absolutely nothing except an idea,” Gingerich said. “Today, the museum is bursting at the seams with so many artifacts that we can’t even store everything on site anymore.”

The museum currently houses six antique fire trucks, with a seventh recently purchased. The newest addition was originally bought by the New Hamburg Fire Department in 1948, prior to its incorporation into Wilmot Township in 1973. The truck is now being returned to Wilmot from Alberta.

In addition to the fire trucks, the museum features thousands of artifacts, including photographs, antique firefighting equipment and historical uniforms.

Bechthold, who served with the Wilmot Township Fire Department for more than 25 years and retired as fire chief at the Baden station, was the driving force behind establishing the museum. After retiring, he approached several fellow retired firefighters and, following a series of meetings, the Wilmot Heritage Fire Brigades and Museum was formed and incorporated as a not-for-profit registered charity in 1995.

Over the past three decades, Bechthold has spent countless hours maintaining and promoting the museum. He has served as secretary and treasurer for most of that time.

In recognition of his dedication, the brigades’ directors presented him with the museum’s first-ever honorary lifetime membership. The award came as a complete surprise, and to date, no other lifetime memberships have been granted.

Bechthold noted the museum is always looking to grow its membership and emphasized that fire-service experience is not required. Several current members have no firefighting background but share a passion for preserving local history.

Those interested in joining or learning more can contact the heritage brigade at wilmotfiremuseum@gmail.com.