Author’s note: The title of the article has been altered for clarify and conciseness.
Originally published in the Guernsey Gazette August 24, 2021 and the Platte County Record-Times August 25, 2021
GUERNSEY — A Casino Night fundraiser on Saturday benefitting the Guernsey Volunteer Firefighters raised a total of one thousand, five hundred and thirty-six dollars. The event was held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4471 and ran from six to ten-thirty p.m.
The volunteer firefighting service has been in place since the 1940s. It was previously located at the current visitor’s center, which used to be city and fire station.
The Casino Night was created as a replacement for the previous fundraising event, which was a fireman’s ball.
“It was a change of ideas,” said Fire Chief Jeff Thomas. “Nobody really came to the balls anymore. So we wanted to do something that was more engaging and more entertaining.”
This year was the fifth time that the Casino Night was held. It was supposed to be the sixth, but last year’s event was canceled due to COVID. Past events have raised between one thousand and eighteen hundred dollars.
According to Chief Thomas, who has been the Fire Chief for eleven years, planning Casino Night to happen concurrently with Duck Daze has helped attract more people in the past.
“There were more people in town and the event was going on and we were glad to partner with them,” said Thomas. “So this will be the first year of actually advertising it and being involved in it.”
The Casino Night is not the only fundraising event hosted by the volunteer firefighters. In October, they also host a haunted house.
“It’s usually the day of, day before, and day after depending on how it falls,” said Thomas. “It’s a really fun time. It’s grown a lot from years past.”
Although the volunteer firefighter service does take a small amount from the haunted house for themselves, most of the earnings from that event are donated back to the community.
“We usually take the money that comes from that and half of it goes back to the toy run we help host in December for needy kids,” said Thomas.
“And the other half used to go to Thanksgiving dinners, but I think this year we’ve decided that we’re going to take the other half and give it to the Frederick Scholarship Fund for college students.”
The combined proceeds from the events help to cover firefighting costs that are not included in the budget.
“The Casino Night we keep all the proceeds from that to cover things that aren’t covered for by our budget,” said Thomas.
“If we have to go out and everybody’s on a fire and they’ve been on there for hours and nobody’s had dinner, we use this to go grab them dinner, get them water, whatever they need.”
Only twelve people currently serve on the volunteer firefighters. According to Chief Thomas, this number tends to rise and fall depending on circumstances.
“It’s really hard nowadays because volunteerism is down. It’s just not something most young people think about,” said Chief Thomas.
“By the time they’re thirty, thirty-five then they think more about giving back to the community they live in.”
Chief Thomas also explained that sometimes an inflow also comes from new transfers to the military base but goes down again once they get reassigned out of Guernsey.
Seven gambling stations were prepared for the event. Three were designated for poker, three for blackjack, and one for craps.
Upon entering the VFW post, guests could take a cup of gambling chips to use and spend at the different tables. Blue chips were worth twenty-five dollars, red chips were worth fifty, black chips were worth one hundred, and green chips were worth five hundred dollars.
During the event, a fifty-fifty raffle sponsored by the Mystic Brotherhood of Widow’s Sons, the motorcycle club of the Freemasons, was held. The raffle raised four hundred and ninety-two dollars to provide meals at the Senior Center in Guernsey.
After three hours of gambling, participants could cash in their earned chips equal to the total amount that the chips were worth. This amount would be written on a slip of paper be usable for the following auction.
According to Shenna Thomas, wife of Fire Chief Thomas, there was a total of forty-two donors from across Platte and Goshen counties.
Craig Frederick, a business owner, served as the auctioneer and oversaw the craps table. He has also worked in previous Casino Nights.
“Members of the fire department ask me just to help because they know I have done it in the past,” said Frederick. “That I enjoy these sorts of events.”
Like Chief Thomas, Frederick believes that partnering with Duck Daze can help attract more people to the Casino Night.
“I think the two events definitely work hand in hand,” said, Frederick. “As people know about it, learn about it, and we get the word out, I think more people will participate in coming years.”
James Meyer 