Mahanoy City West End caps off centennial celebration with parade of 100+ fire trucks
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - A crowd gathers outside the West End firehouse for a celebration of the fire company's centennial on June 28, 2025.
MAHANOY CITY – Mahanoy City’s newest fire company is celebrating their centennial this year and Saturday capped off a week of festivities.
Over 100 pieces of fire apparatus came out for a midday parade celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the West End Fire Company’s founding.
“I would’ve been happy with 50,” Mahanoy City Fire Chief Dan Markiewicz quipped about the turnout.
Trucks from as near as Shenandoah and as far as Long Pond, Birdsboro, and Fleetwood came out to support the company.
The West End is one of five fire companies in town and was chartered on June 29, 2025.
Following Saturday’s parade, a ceremony commemorated the milestone for the company.
State Rep. Dane Watro provided a proclamation from both the House on his behalf and the Senate on Senator Dave Argall’s behalf.
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – A truck from Birdsboro passes Catawissa Street on Mahanoy Street during Saturday’s parade. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Mike Kitsock drives the West End’s 1950 Mack L in Saturday’s parade. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – West End members ride the company’s 1975 Mack CF. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – The Lehigh & Lausanne Fire Company from Carbon County participates in Saturday’s parade. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – A Nescopeck fire engine participates in Saturday’s parade. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Three photographers capture the parade.
County Commissioners Gary Hess and Barron “Boots” Hetherington were also on-hand.
Mike Matunis, of the Washington Hook and Ladder, presented an award to West End Chief Joseph Gavala on behalf of his company.
Harvey Eckert, a Mack fire apparatus historian, spoke about the history of Mack apparatus. The West End paraded and displayed their two former Mack engines — a 1950 Mack Model L and a 1975 Mack CF.
Both trucks were blessed and re-christened and ceremonially pushed into the station by fire company members.
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – West End Fire Chief Joseph Gavala speaks during Saturday’s festivities. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – The West End’s 1950 Mack L awaits the end of the parade as a Shenandoah ladder truck passes on ‘D’ Street. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Mahanoy City Fire Chief Dan Markiewicz, center right, awaits the end of the parade. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Mahanoy City Fire Chief Dan Markiewicz serves as emcee of Saturday’s festivities. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Schuylkill County Commissioner Barron Hetherington, left, and Mahanoy City Fire Chief Dan Markiewicz. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – State Rep. Dane Watro, right, congratulates West End Fire Chief Joseph Gavala.
Saturday’s festivities capped off a week of events, including a banquet, history night, and memorial service.
Fire companies from Schuylkill, Berks, Carbon, Lebanon, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, and Northumberland counties all participated in Saturday’s parade. The Plainfield Township Fire Co. of Northampton County received an award for traveling the farthest, 80 miles according to the West End Fire Co.
In total, the fire company says 119 trucks took part.
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