By Erik Sietsema
Last weekend, the Big Sandy Volunteer Fire Department hosted its 71st annual Chili Feed. When I realized the fundraiser has been going for more than seven decades, I started wondering how it all began. A little research turned up the origins of the Chili Feed and some of the history of our local fire department.
The Town of Big Sandy has actually had two fire departments. Nobody knows exactly when the first one was founded, but it was dissolved in 1938, and the town went without an organized fire department for the next decade. Several people pushed to start a new one, includi...
