DOUBLE SPRINGS - A new drone - a valuable tool for first responders to help find people during search and rescue operations - is the goal Double Springs police and fire plan to purchase with proceeds raised at the 12th annual Public Safety Gun Show.
This year’s show will be Saturday, Oct. 28, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 29, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Double Springs Municipal Building on Highway 195 South. The show will feature at least 100 vendor tables selling everything from guns, knives and hunting accessories, with some vendors coming from as far away as Mississippi, Georgia and Florida.
The event each year brings out 1,200 people from across Alabama and other states as well, according to Double Springs Police Chief Kim Miller. Vendors pay $40 for their eight-foot table, organizers said. Each person attending also pays $5 at the door.
This year, hamburgers and hot dogs will be served from the concession stand, with tickets being sold throughout the day for a special firearm that will be given away.
Last year, the gun show set a record, with the police and fire departments each receiving approximately $5,000, after all expenses were paid, organizers said.
A majority of these show-related expenses were covered by $2,500 donated from local businesses and individuals, organizers said.
“The reason it was the best year is because donations covered the costs of putting the show on,” Miller noted. “If we don’t have the donations, we have to pull that money from the profit.”
All of the proceeds, including concessions, are split evenly between the police and fire departments--a process which has proven to be invaluable as far as providing much-needed supplies and equipment.
“We try to relieve some of the burden the town has to supply the equipment we have,” Miller said.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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