Day of Snacks, Music & Horsepower Rollin’ Into Parsippany

For those who may have a flawless set of wheels lying just behind their garage doors, or a keen interest in rust buckets or ’90-Point cars,’ then Aug. 18 may be a particularly important day to cross off the calendar.

That day, the Lake Parsippany Volunteer Fire Company and the Parsippany Rescue and Recovery Unit will be jointly holding their third annual car show at Lanidex Plaza off Parsippany Road from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. 

Anyone is invited to attend the event, and can witness a bloc of new cars, jeeps and trucks showing off their exemplary conditions. Additionally, there will be classes of motorcycles and special apparatus.

Those with show cars were invited to register for the event at $15, and could have done so by filling out a registration form by Aug. 5. However, they may still pay a slightly higher fee of $20 at the door. There’s also a $30 vendor spot for the afternoon.

Classes will be: cars/jeeps/trucks (working and show), motorcycles cruiser (HD and custom) and special apparatus (in-service and private).

There will be food, soda, water, music and a 50/50 raffle/tricky tray offered. However, a policy of the event reads: “absolutely no alcohol.” Vendors, which do not sell food, are welcomed.

In its third year, the show functions as an alternative for the two departments to raise money. They regularly thrive off of donations from local residents via distributed brochures, and the Fall Festival, where donators can supply the squads with money first hand.

Again, proceeds are poised to help both the Lake Parsippany Volunteer Fire Company and the Parsippany Rescue and Recovery Unit.

What You’d Be Donating To

The fire squad was founded in 1935 by a group of “public-spirited citizens,” according to a Parsippany press release. Recognizing the need for fire protection in the town’s third district, the men started a company that would monitor an expanding area.

Slowly scrapping together equipment from loans, and a truck from Livingston Fire Co., the squad became more formalized, opening up a suitable location on the former property of the New York Daily Mirror. That site served until 2002 when another house was constructed across the street on Halsey Road (though the old firehouse is still a substation).

The rescue squad, according to the release, was established in 1960 as a dive unit, and performed water rescues and was expanded in 1965 upon the arrival of an ambulance. Their equipment occupied sporadic locations until a site was built in 1976 in Lake Hiawatha.

Members receive about 100 hours of training per year, and deal with dives, harmful accidents, and flooding which plagues the area.

“We’re not on the tax rolls, we come from all different walks of life, and we’re family people,” said Charlie Bedi, former chief of the rescue and recovery squad. 

“Your next-door neighbor could be on the rescue squad and you might not even know it. We have a good relationship with fire departments, ambulance squads, and the township. And they are all good people.”