Sept. 29--ANDOVER -- Firefighters will take to Main Street with their boots in hand tomorrow to collect money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, despite police officials saying the annual fundraiser is too unsafe to continue.
Selectmen voted Monday night to allow firefighters to continue the annual "Fill the Boot" campaign. The collections will take place tomorrow and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The campaign is conducted by firefighters nationwide, according to Andover Firefighter Brian Wright.
The fundraiser is simple: Firefighter's stand in different locations downtown and at Shawsheen Plaza, each one holding a firefighter's boot, in which they ask motorists to drop in whatever money they can.
Police Lt. James Hashem said the Police Department "continues to feel that this is an unsafe activity and would recommend against the Board of Selectmen approving this request," in a letter sent to selectmen last week.
Hashem said selectmen voted last year to require the firefighters to remain on the sidewalk, not interfere with traffic and not approach any vehicles. "They disregarded all your restrictions last year creating a very unsafe situation," Hashem wrote in the letter.
He said the Police Department responded to numerous complaints and each time ordered the firefighters to move to the sidewalk, in which they returned to the roadway. "Their continued refusal to abide by your restrictions only reinforces our recommendation that this event cannot be done safely by them,'" Hashem wrote.
On Monday night, Wright, an MDA representative to the Fire Department, asked selectmen to allow the firefighters to stand on the cobblestone traffic islands near Elm Square and Chestnut Street, calling them "prime sites" to solicit donations for the campaign.
He said there will be cones and signs around the islands, for both safety and to bring attention to the campaign. He also noted that about 90 percent of the Fire Department is trained by police in traffic safety. "We work with traffic everyday and safely do it," Wright said.
He said standing on the sidewalks makes it more difficult to collect donations because motorists have to reach across the passenger side of the car.
Dena Miller, of Haverhill, whose 8-year-old son Joseph has spinal muscular atrophy, told selectmen she has talked to many towns in the past five years that are not allowing firefighters to take part.
"Small towns are slowly but surely giving in to people complaining about traffic," Miller said. "There has never been an accident with an MDA boot drive in Massachusetts. This is a great legacy for the firefighters of this state and to have towns systematically taking something good that they do year after year away doesn't make any sense."
She said the drives make a huge difference in fundraising efforts for the association. Everything collected in Massachusetts stays in the state, she said.
In recent years, the Haverhill Police Department has also fielded complaints that the fundraisers were causing traffic to back up in some areas. But no serious traffic problems have been reported.
Selectmen Chairman Brian Major said it doesn't seem feasible to ask firefighters to remain on the sidewalk. The board unanimously approved Wright's request, with some even giving a donation that night.
This will be the fifth year the Fire Department will hold the fundraising drive. Wright said the donations go toward research to find a cure, equipment and scholarships to send kids to camp among other things.
"We are not raising money for ourselves but for people we don't know and the families that need our help and support," Wright said.
Copyright 2011 - The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
