Firefighter s Ball is Back

Charity event ramping up after several year absence due to Covid

By Tim Smith

After the horrors and heartbreak of COVID-19, which Northville city and township firefighters began experiencing every day in March 2020, few if any of those men or women thought about things like having fun and letting loose. Even if for a good cause.

But three years have changed the landscape enough to finally provide kind of a permission structure to “Dine, Drink, Dance and Donate.”

That is the catchy slogan for the 18th annual Firefighter's Ball, hosted by the Northville Township Firefighters Charity Fund, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The 2023 event, back after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, is 6 p.m. Saturday, March 18 at Laurel Manor in Livonia.

The event is not a black-tie occasion, but guests should wear semi-formal or wedding attire.

“It’s gone very well,”

Tommy Hughes, president of the Northville Township

Firefighters Charity Fund, said about gala ticket sales.

“We weren’t sure what to expect. We’ve had a really loyal following over the years. We grew from where we first started, with 75 people (attending) back in 2002, and ran it every other year other than the last couple covid years.

“We’re trying to step back into it a bit and people seem pretty excited to get back out there, have a good time, get around their friends, family and neighbors and enjoy each other’s company a little bit.”

Cost to attend is $150 per ticket, available at www. ntffcharityfund.com/ firefightersball. As of the beginning of February, all but a couple hundred of the 550 tickets remained unsold. For that price, guests will receive a full meal, open bar and live entertainment from the Killer Flamingos.

Also on tap will be raffle gift baskets and a silent auction (featuring signed sports memorabilia, concert tickets and more). Items continue to pour in from generous individuals and businesses, Hughes said.

“As we ramp this back up a little bit, we’re going to have to take some baby steps,” continued Hughes, adding that about 750 attended the 2020 gala, just weeks before COVID-19 stopped the world in its tracks. “Not that 550 people is baby steps, but we would have (loved to get) that 20 years ago.”

Hughes said the event normally draws a wide mix of people, from their 20s to 70s.

“It really is a community group,” he noted. “We have a lot of support from local fire departments, local police agencies, some of our local nurses who attend. And local businesses.”

The township firefighters’ charity fund itself is “completely unrelated” to the fire department, Hughes emphasized.

“Separate entity. None of the money goes back to the fire department at all. This is solely a community function,” Hughes said.

Finally being face-to-face for an evening, without worry or restriction, is a huge relief for Hughes and all of the community movers and shakers who will attend.

But Hughes underscored the overlying purpose of the gala – to help raise dollars that can be funneled to community groups (such as Northville Civic Concern and the Northville Educational Foundation) from which help can be directed to individuals and families in need.

The 2020 event raised about $60,000, and although fewer people will attend this year, Hughes is hopeful the total funds generated this year will approach that amount.

The Firefighter's Ball remains the organization’s largest fundraiser. Since the event began in 2002, nearly $900,000 has been donated to local charities and causes. Some of those include assisting fallen firefighters, police officers and their families; the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Great Lakes Burn Camp, creation of the Sherrill Berman Trailhead Playground, Salvation Army, Goodfellows, Northville Parks and Recreation and many others.

At the top of the list of groups receiving important funds from the event is Northville Civic Concern. Marlene Kunz, longtime director of Civic Concern, said the funding is so important to their mission. She said the organization provides food and other relief for more than 250 local families.

“It takes a village. Without the village we can’t do anything,” Kunz said.

For more information, visit www.ntffcharityfund.com.