NEW GLARUS - When New Glarus volunteer firemen jump up from the dinner table to battle a blaze, their families have learned to take it in stride.
"You have to be flexible," said Melissa Durst, married six years to John, with two children. "It's a time commitment, and you have to be willing to adapt."
But their 4-year-old seems to get excited when John's pager goes off.
"Daddy's going to be running out and down the hill. Daddy's going to ride the fire truck," Melissa said her son says.
"It's normal life," said Devon Kammerude, whose husband Josh has been with the department for almost three years of their five-year marriage. "When you have plans and they have to jump up and leave, you get annoyed sometime, but you live with it."
Saturday night was the firemen's turn to honor their sweethearts with a special dinner. They cook it, they serve it and they clean up.
"This year we are serving prime rib, cheesy potatoes, John Durst's Swiss beans and for dessert orange jubilee and brownies," said Dennis "Lumpy" Hoesly, a member of the department for 30 years. Firefighters also decorated their meeting room at the fire house with candles and candy.
The sweetheart party has been going on since the 1980s. Before that it was a Christmas dinner.
"But it was just too busy at that time of the year," Hoesly said. So now, the wives and girlfriends are shown appreciation the first weekend after Valentine's Day.
"I give her a lot of credit for being so understanding, when she has made plans and you get called away," John Durst said about Melissa.
"It's pretty neat and exciting," Kammerude said about the party. "It's nice to see everyone mid-year. We see each other a lot in the summer, but not in between. It's a very family-oriented group."
Kammerude's father is Dennis Hoesly. She also has an uncle on the force. The Henderickson family has three brothers in the department: Kurt, Kraig and Kevin.
And then there is the classmate connection: Devon, Josh, Kurt, his wife Sarah and four other members of the force are 1998 graduates of New Glarus High School.
Kammerude said she enjoyed growing up as one of the firemen's kids, with camping trips and parades among the numerous other fire department events.
"We all got along," she said, like any family.
Shawna Nevil, now married 20 years to Mike, said his being a fireman is "not any different than his being a chef and working seven days a week.
"There's a lot of time when I'm at functions here, and he's not," Nevil said.
Mike was a fireman before they married, and Nevil said their three children, ages 10-17, were born into the lifestyle and don't know anything different.
Nevil, and Hoesly's wife, Toots (Lillian), remember when fire calls were different, but the family feel wasn't.
"There used to be more fires years ago," Toots said. "A lot more barn fires. And they would be gone all night. We used to fix food to take out to them."
"We used to share a duplex with the Andersons (another firefighter family)," Nevil said, "When the pagers went off, they would run out, and didn't know whose car to take."
"There's a lot of good stories," Toots said.
Today's firemen's wives' stories are just a little different.
Chris and Jim Moldenhauer have been married for five years. Jim joined the force about three years ago.
"He met someone in the fire department and they asked him to join. I was fine with it," Chris said. "You always worry - with the big ones (fires) especially, but they get a lot of training."
But now the couple has a baby boy, Zach, born Christmas eve.
"He doesn't like being alone with Zach, because there might be a fire call," Chris said, "(So) they baby-sit in groups."
"You have to be flexible," said Melissa Durst, married six years to John, with two children. "It's a time commitment, and you have to be willing to adapt."
But their 4-year-old seems to get excited when John's pager goes off.
"Daddy's going to be running out and down the hill. Daddy's going to ride the fire truck," Melissa said her son says.
"It's normal life," said Devon Kammerude, whose husband Josh has been with the department for almost three years of their five-year marriage. "When you have plans and they have to jump up and leave, you get annoyed sometime, but you live with it."
Saturday night was the firemen's turn to honor their sweethearts with a special dinner. They cook it, they serve it and they clean up.
"This year we are serving prime rib, cheesy potatoes, John Durst's Swiss beans and for dessert orange jubilee and brownies," said Dennis "Lumpy" Hoesly, a member of the department for 30 years. Firefighters also decorated their meeting room at the fire house with candles and candy.
The sweetheart party has been going on since the 1980s. Before that it was a Christmas dinner.
"But it was just too busy at that time of the year," Hoesly said. So now, the wives and girlfriends are shown appreciation the first weekend after Valentine's Day.
"I give her a lot of credit for being so understanding, when she has made plans and you get called away," John Durst said about Melissa.
"It's pretty neat and exciting," Kammerude said about the party. "It's nice to see everyone mid-year. We see each other a lot in the summer, but not in between. It's a very family-oriented group."
Kammerude's father is Dennis Hoesly. She also has an uncle on the force. The Henderickson family has three brothers in the department: Kurt, Kraig and Kevin.
And then there is the classmate connection: Devon, Josh, Kurt, his wife Sarah and four other members of the force are 1998 graduates of New Glarus High School.
Kammerude said she enjoyed growing up as one of the firemen's kids, with camping trips and parades among the numerous other fire department events.
"We all got along," she said, like any family.
Shawna Nevil, now married 20 years to Mike, said his being a fireman is "not any different than his being a chef and working seven days a week.
"There's a lot of time when I'm at functions here, and he's not," Nevil said.
Mike was a fireman before they married, and Nevil said their three children, ages 10-17, were born into the lifestyle and don't know anything different.
Nevil, and Hoesly's wife, Toots (Lillian), remember when fire calls were different, but the family feel wasn't.
"There used to be more fires years ago," Toots said. "A lot more barn fires. And they would be gone all night. We used to fix food to take out to them."
"We used to share a duplex with the Andersons (another firefighter family)," Nevil said, "When the pagers went off, they would run out, and didn't know whose car to take."
"There's a lot of good stories," Toots said.
Today's firemen's wives' stories are just a little different.
Chris and Jim Moldenhauer have been married for five years. Jim joined the force about three years ago.
"He met someone in the fire department and they asked him to join. I was fine with it," Chris said. "You always worry - with the big ones (fires) especially, but they get a lot of training."
But now the couple has a baby boy, Zach, born Christmas eve.
"He doesn't like being alone with Zach, because there might be a fire call," Chris said, "(So) they baby-sit in groups."