"If your house is burning down, you need us." That's the simple message Lori Shenk imparts from the Mastersonville Volunteer Fire Company, where she is the assistant secretary. To help raise funds for its operating expenses, the fire company will host a breakfast on Saturday, May 21. To raise awareness of everything it does in the community, the station will hold an open house on Monday, June 6.

"People have been asking and asking when we are doing a breakfast again," said Kristin Martin, breakfast chair, noting that it's been a few years since the station served the meal. The all-you-can-eat breakfast will run from 6 to 10 a.m. at 2121 Meadow View Road, Manheim, and will feature eggs (both scrambled and made to order), sausage, bacon, pancakes, home-fried potatoes, cereal, fruit, doughnuts, coffee, orange juice, milk and chocolate milk. The food will be prepared by the firefighters, and the breakfast will be served in the station's engine bay.

"You can go back for food as many times as you want, and you can hang out here as long as you want," Martin said. "A lot of people from the community like to come to talk to their friends and neighbors and just visit." The cost for the breakfast is by donation.

The open house will begin at 7 p.m. on June 6. "The open house is an opportunity for us to network with the community," Shenk stated. "It gives people a chance to see what we do."

At the open house, children and adults will be able to try flowing water at a fire suppression station. Other features will include information about the station's Quick Response Service medical unit, a chance to see its two new engines up close and an opportunity to learn more about the rescue tools the station uses. Self-guided tours of the station will be available, with informational signs posted at various rooms to provide details on what happens within the building.

Free food will be served at the open house, including soft-serve ice cream, popcorn and cotton candy. "We'll also have an information table set up, so people can fill out an application to volunteer if they want to or they can ask questions," Shenk said.

Shenk encourages residents who live on farms to attend the open house and discuss setting up a visit to their property for fire preplanning, where firefighters can learn things like the location of ponds on the property or potential obstacles to work around in the event of a fire.

The open house will be held during the regular Monday night training sessions for the firefighters, which will give attendees the opportunity to see the volunteers in action, Shenk remarked. "Bring the kids, enjoy some ice cream, see what we're all about and meet some firefighters," she said.

For more information on the breakfast or the open house, search for "Mastersonville Fire Co" on Facebook.