2024 Western Point Champs!
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During the season, we practice Monday and Thursday evenings at our track at the Robert McGrail Training Center, 257 Kings Highway North. Come support us at our tournaments!!
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** Racing videos on Kevin Doran's YouTube channel
2025 Racing News
7/12/25 | Sea Breeze Invitational | 1:00PM
7/18/24 | Main-Transit Invitational | 6:30PM
8/02/24 | Spencerport Invitational | 1:00PM
8/16/24 | NYS Championship @ Main-Transit | 10:00AM
8/23/24 | Point Pleasant Invitational | 12:00PM
7/18/24 | Main-Transit Invitational | 6:30PM
8/02/24 | Spencerport Invitational | 1:00PM
8/16/24 | NYS Championship @ Main-Transit | 10:00AM
8/23/24 | Point Pleasant Invitational | 12:00PM
Stay Connected
- Youtube videos - Kevin Doran has compiled complete tournaments and Pea Picker Team Summaries at: www.youtube.com/channel/UC9gsNkqN9UjntxL5jAuNE2g
- Facebook - OFFICIAL Pea Picker page for announcements: https://www.facebook.com/groups/161097923972481/
- Facebook - @NYSFDdrillteams
- Twitter - follow "NYSFDdrillteams" for drill updates
- Website stats - get all the Fire Racing info at www.nysdrillteams.com.
- Message board gossip - Digger 74 Message Boards
Previous years:
2024 Racing News
Western New York total point champions!!
2023 Racing News
Western New York total point champions!!
2022 Racing News
The Big 8. The team landed on the yearly statewide leader board for B Ladder with a time of 5.04 at the Sea Breeze Invitational. on 6/25/2022.
2021 Racing News
On February 13th 2021, a Life Member event was held in which some members were inducted. The traditional spaghetti dinner was postponed, and did take place April 16th + April 17th. In the meanwhile, the drill team is selling squares for a cash raffle, to be drawn when the board is full, and then start a new one. See a member if interested.
2020 Racing News
The 2020 race season was finally able to be held after months of uncertainty due to the pandemic. It was a short year, with tournaments only be hosted by SeaBreeze, Main-Transit, and ourselves. They were not advertised, and could not have any spectators from the general public. We will be looking forward to a more normal season in 2021. (Fingers crossed)
2017 Results Summary & Video Links
2018 Racing updates and tournament vides are on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/161097923972481/
08/19/17 Pea Pickers Take Points at NYS Championship - 3-Man Ladder 4th Place (6.61), B-ladder 1st Place (5.10), for a total of 7 points. The team took an early lead and ranked in 1st, giving the Long Island teams a run for their money. The team ultimately finished 7th for the day and took home several trophies. Videos can be seen on the team's Facebook page.
08/05/17 Drill Team Enters The Home Stretch - The drill team managed to increase the western point lead to 25.5 points over the second place Ol' Henries with a 33 point win at Spencerport. The team was on a 5 race win streak on the day until a disqualification in Efficiency suddenly left us with just a 2 point tournament lead over Main-Transit. The lead on the day increased to 3 with a motor pump win over Main-Transit by 0.01 seconds as we headed into buckets. Placing third in buckets was enough to secure a 33 to 31.5 win over Main-Transit on the day.
This upcoming weekend is an off weekend for the drill team as we prepare to take our talents to the State Drill in Hempstead on the 19th. We will be running 13th in the order that day and the tournament will be broadcast live, on-line at:
http://aoa.lyedecker.com/index.php/live/video-streams/live-video-only
The final tournament of the year will be at our place in the valley on Saturday the 26th starting at noon. We are anticipating at least 4 teams coming from Long Island to compete with us, so it should be an exciting day at the races.
Hope to see everyone there.
~ Kevin Doran
PS: the disqualification in the efficiency contest this weekend was timed at 9.16 seconds.
Also, here's the video from Spencerport in case you missed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nhQHYL3X3M&t=6s
This upcoming weekend is an off weekend for the drill team as we prepare to take our talents to the State Drill in Hempstead on the 19th. We will be running 13th in the order that day and the tournament will be broadcast live, on-line at:
http://aoa.lyedecker.com/index.php/live/video-streams/live-video-only
The final tournament of the year will be at our place in the valley on Saturday the 26th starting at noon. We are anticipating at least 4 teams coming from Long Island to compete with us, so it should be an exciting day at the races.
Hope to see everyone there.
~ Kevin Doran
PS: the disqualification in the efficiency contest this weekend was timed at 9.16 seconds.
Also, here's the video from Spencerport in case you missed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nhQHYL3X3M&t=6s
07/29/17 - PeaPickers were victorious today for the second week in a row scoring 35 points. We look to improve as we head into August. Next tournament is Saturday 8/5 @ spencerport #NYSquest17
07/21/17 Pea Pickers Rally To Win At Main-Transit - On Friday, the Pea Pickers headed to Main-Transit to avenge their loss to Henrietta at the Sea Breeze Drill. After winning the 3-Man Ladder contest with a respectable time of 6.50, the team pushed on to a 6 point victory on the day over the rival Ol' Henries; scoring 35 out of 40 points.
For the yearly point race, the Pea Pickers have taken over Henrietta for the lead by one point (64 to 63).
The next drill is a local drill, at the North Greece track (3666 Latta Road) on Saturday July 29th starting at 1:00pm. Hope to see a lot of you guys there.
~ Kevin Doran
PS Here's the video from Main-Transit in case you missed it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBoPKYGFeMc
For the yearly point race, the Pea Pickers have taken over Henrietta for the lead by one point (64 to 63).
The next drill is a local drill, at the North Greece track (3666 Latta Road) on Saturday July 29th starting at 1:00pm. Hope to see a lot of you guys there.
~ Kevin Doran
PS Here's the video from Main-Transit in case you missed it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBoPKYGFeMc
07/15/17 - C-ladder WNY record. Keep up the good work everyone. Great start to the year. GO PEA PICKERS!!
Racing Videos: Present and Past - You can find many full tournament videos on Kevin Doran's YouTube channel, here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOmkA-moF9AEOFi59rgCyWA
2017 Team Roster
The team is led this year by Drill Team Captain Ken Wuest, 1st Lieutenant Eric Thomas and 2nd Lieutenant Michael Passero. The B and C trucks will once again be driven by Bob Catone, with mechanic help by Ron Hoag. Coaching staff is Mark Thomas with Assistant Steve Mascari. Filling out the team is Thomas Champion, Kevin Doran, Jeff Champion, Jamie Pittinaro, Kyle Viccaro, Josh Menelas, Danny Ott Jr., Marquel Vazquez, Danny Doran, Ty Williams, Justin Derleth, and Ryan Derleth.
Drill Team Racing History
When volunteer fire brigades were first formed, there were no fire districts within which a designated fire company confined its activities. With the advent of fire insurance companies a fire alarm was the signal for any and all fire organizations to race to the conflagration, for the first company to reach the scene and put out the fire was rewarded by the insurance company. Thus, it behooved the brigades and hose companies to keep men and equipment in racing form! While much has changed over the years in the formation and regulations governing volunteer fire companies the spirit of competition stays alive in what we know as Volunteer Firemen's Drill Teams.
A Drill Team competition consists of a number of races - foot and apparatus, sanctioned and supervised by the New York State Volunteer Firemen's Drill Team Captains Association. Each member of every team must be an active fireman in his company. Some of the skills demonstrated at a tournament are: ladder climbing, maneuvering of trucks, laying and coupling of fire hose, hooking hose to a hydrant, hitting a target with a stream of water, and even the forming of a bucket brigade.
In New York State, Firemen's Drill Teams were formed and became active in the Long Island area. It was through the interest and guidance of the "Brush Rabbits" that Drill Team competition was introduced to Irondequoit with the formation of the Pt. Pleasant "Pea Pickers" in 1935. For a while this was the only Drill Team in the state outside of the metropolitan New York area and aroused enough interest that teams were formed in other nearby towns. The Pea Pickers have been active in all parts of New York State every year since 1935 with the exception of the war years when state competition was suspended, and have won many area championships as well as statewide recognition.
In the early days of the organization's existence there were interesting and unusual developments encompassing much hard work and heartbreak. Dances were held to finance the purchase of equipment for the trucks. 1940 found the team sweeping the Monroe County Championship. Even in 1941 news items appeared regarding the rivalry between neighboring Sea Breeze "Indians" and the Pea Pickers. This was the year the betting was even as to the outcome of the State Tournament in Geneva as the two teams were "fired up" for that tournament. The 1947 Monroe County Fair climaxed its record attendance year with a ten team tournament. The Pea Pickers took this point trophy with a total of 32 points. Again in 1948 they walked off with seven firsts to easily win the County Championship at the Fair. Greece-Ridge Fire Department was in command around the early 50's but their winning streak was finally broken when in July of 1956 Pt. Pleasant tied them with 32 points at the Western New York Convention held at Batavia.
Many remember the disqualification in the Efficiency race at the State Tournament held August 25, 1961 at Panorama Plaza in Penfield. The Pea Pickers had a "perfect" run only to find the nozzle beyond the line. One of the "hottest" tournaments remembered locally was held at Pittsford Plaza in July of 1962. The Pea Pickers were second to Main Transit in the 90-degree plus heat that felled several spectators. The team entered the 68th Annual Northern Central New York Volunteer Firemen's Association Convention Tournament in Penn Yan in June of 1964 and won all honors.
The Pea Pickers have entered a team in most of the State Tournaments regardless of the location and gained much deserved recognition in the 1964 tournament held at Hempstead, Long Island by taking a second place trophy in the Motor Hose Class "C" race. This trophy and many others are displayed in the firehouse. Some trophies displayed there are of the "retiring" type and will appear again over the years. Examples of these are awards for most improvement over previous season, most points in the season, sportsmanship and others.
Now the Pea Pickers are able to practice at their own drill center. Construction of the Point Pleasant Fire District fire training and drill center on its 13 acre site behind Firehouse No.2 on Kings Highway was completed in 1965.
The team has had to combine with the Sea Breeze Indians in 1999 and again in 2007. This was for several reasons in both teams including financial and manpower shortages. We are happy to report that both departments are up and running on their own since the 2008 season with competitive teams!
A Drill Team competition consists of a number of races - foot and apparatus, sanctioned and supervised by the New York State Volunteer Firemen's Drill Team Captains Association. Each member of every team must be an active fireman in his company. Some of the skills demonstrated at a tournament are: ladder climbing, maneuvering of trucks, laying and coupling of fire hose, hooking hose to a hydrant, hitting a target with a stream of water, and even the forming of a bucket brigade.
In New York State, Firemen's Drill Teams were formed and became active in the Long Island area. It was through the interest and guidance of the "Brush Rabbits" that Drill Team competition was introduced to Irondequoit with the formation of the Pt. Pleasant "Pea Pickers" in 1935. For a while this was the only Drill Team in the state outside of the metropolitan New York area and aroused enough interest that teams were formed in other nearby towns. The Pea Pickers have been active in all parts of New York State every year since 1935 with the exception of the war years when state competition was suspended, and have won many area championships as well as statewide recognition.
In the early days of the organization's existence there were interesting and unusual developments encompassing much hard work and heartbreak. Dances were held to finance the purchase of equipment for the trucks. 1940 found the team sweeping the Monroe County Championship. Even in 1941 news items appeared regarding the rivalry between neighboring Sea Breeze "Indians" and the Pea Pickers. This was the year the betting was even as to the outcome of the State Tournament in Geneva as the two teams were "fired up" for that tournament. The 1947 Monroe County Fair climaxed its record attendance year with a ten team tournament. The Pea Pickers took this point trophy with a total of 32 points. Again in 1948 they walked off with seven firsts to easily win the County Championship at the Fair. Greece-Ridge Fire Department was in command around the early 50's but their winning streak was finally broken when in July of 1956 Pt. Pleasant tied them with 32 points at the Western New York Convention held at Batavia.
Many remember the disqualification in the Efficiency race at the State Tournament held August 25, 1961 at Panorama Plaza in Penfield. The Pea Pickers had a "perfect" run only to find the nozzle beyond the line. One of the "hottest" tournaments remembered locally was held at Pittsford Plaza in July of 1962. The Pea Pickers were second to Main Transit in the 90-degree plus heat that felled several spectators. The team entered the 68th Annual Northern Central New York Volunteer Firemen's Association Convention Tournament in Penn Yan in June of 1964 and won all honors.
The Pea Pickers have entered a team in most of the State Tournaments regardless of the location and gained much deserved recognition in the 1964 tournament held at Hempstead, Long Island by taking a second place trophy in the Motor Hose Class "C" race. This trophy and many others are displayed in the firehouse. Some trophies displayed there are of the "retiring" type and will appear again over the years. Examples of these are awards for most improvement over previous season, most points in the season, sportsmanship and others.
Now the Pea Pickers are able to practice at their own drill center. Construction of the Point Pleasant Fire District fire training and drill center on its 13 acre site behind Firehouse No.2 on Kings Highway was completed in 1965.
The team has had to combine with the Sea Breeze Indians in 1999 and again in 2007. This was for several reasons in both teams including financial and manpower shortages. We are happy to report that both departments are up and running on their own since the 2008 season with competitive teams!