DOUBLE SPRINGS - Organizers are expecting the largest crowd in the 10-year history of the Town of Double Springs Public Safety and Gun Show this year.
The show will be Saturday, Oct. 29, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday, October 30, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Double Springs Municipal Building, located at 23415 Highway 195 in Double Springs.
Autumn also means hunting season, a key time, when the public seeks hunting or camouflage gear. The show will provide all of this and more while raising funds for both the Double Springs police and fire departments.
Admission will be $5. Vendor spaces are all filled, with vendors paying $40 apiece for their tables, according to Double Springs Police Chief Kim Miller.
The gun and safety show has grown by leaps and bounds in its decade run in Winston County, going from 65 vendors the first year to over 100 this year, including new vendors, according to organizers.
The Double Springs fire and police departments have worked hand-in-hand on the show. Each year, proceeds raised from the show are divided equally to benefit each entity, Miller explained.
It costs around $3,000 to put on the show annually. The show raises about $10,000, with the departments each clearing $3,700 after all expenses have been paid, organizers said.
This funding goes toward new equipment such as turnout gear, medical supplies and truck maintenance for the fire department, noted Lt. Erik Gilbreath of the Double Springs Fire Department.
““To completely outfit a fireman head to toe with air packs is close to $10,000. An air pack is probably around $6,500. Probably the thing we buy the most of is medical supplies,” Gilbreath added.
The fire department runs an average 400 medical calls per year, compared to 50-75 fire-related calls a year, Gilbreath explained.
Medical calls require firefighters to wear gloves to avoid patient contact.
“We go through medical gloves, so that is a pretty big expense,” Gilbreath added. “If there are trauma-related injuries, we have to use bandaging material. That is stuff you can’t use over and over again.
“(The show) has provided us with equipment where we’re not having to worry about coming up with the funds to purchase that stuff,” Gilbreath noted.
The fire department provides concessions each year at the show.
The police department uses their portion of the proceeds to purchase extra equipment, pay for uniforms and upgrade weapons, Miller noted. A ballistic shield, used to protect the body of a police officer in an intense under-fire situation is around $8,000, Miller indicated. Each bulletproof vest costs $700. Those vests need to be replaced every five years so the town will not face liability issues, Miller explained.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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