First Responder Day At Homer Hops Approaches Next Weekend

John Harrison: Good morning everyone. John Harrison in for another edition of Meet Cortland County, and joining me in the studio, got three very wonderful guests. I’ve got Patrick Quinn of McNeil and Company, John Barrett, vice President of Believe 31. And on the phone joining us is Mahlon Irish, a career firefighter.

And, just an amazing overall guy. He’d been with the service for over 40 years and is, well, he’s one of the reasons that, believe 31 exists really, if I understand correctly, right?

Patrick Quinn: It is, believe 31 is Mahlon’s, badge number actually. And, mail-in right now is actually, doing some treatments as we’re doing this interview.

For next, weekend here. I really appreciate him, again, taking the gloves off and, fighting this fight, for the community and for himself, obviously. And he’s sitting down doing it as we’re doing this interview in Syracuse.

John Harrison: Yeah, Mahlon, how you, how you feeling up there in Syracuse?

Mahlon Irish: Actually I feel pretty good.

The chemo, and this is a, I’m on the second round. It’s a, a more, I guess you wanna [00:01:00] say toxic chemo. And the only thing that really is done. Is, I get so tired. I, fatigue, is wicked. I, I have a hard time even getting out of bed in the morning, something. Hmm.

John Harrison: Yeah. Well, it’s, you know, so sorry to, you know, the, the fatigue and everything, you know, can, can really get to you.

But obviously, you know, you’re even just, just joining us today, you know, it shows you’re, you’re, you’re strong and you’re, you’re fighting through it. John, I want to, ask you, you know, as vice President, believe 31, you know, where, where did this all all come from? What does believe 31, you know, stand for and, and what are some of the amazing things you guys are, are doing?

Jon Barrett: Yeah, so I came on, about two, 2020 just, before COVID, as a director and then, kind of filled in for, currently as the, the vice president. But it, it all started back in, 2015, where a, a group of, firefighters in Onaga County, Steve Yik and Gordy from, Pompe Hill there came together to, work with our partners out in, Herman and Iida County for I believe [00:02:00] 2 71 to form a, a chapter here in, you know, Onaga Cortland, Madison, and Oswego Counties to, help our brothers and sisters that are battling, not only cancer, but other life-threatening illnesses.

John Harrison: Yeah, it’s, such an amazing thing you, you guys are doing and, and, a wonderful thing that’s really come together and, and, and helped so many people. And, you know, a way to celebrate next weekend, at Homer Hops, it’s first responder day. Pat, you want to talk a little bit about some of the stuff we can look forward to?

Patrick Quinn: Yeah, we would like to also thank, the radio station for being, one of our primary sponsors as well. I’m gonna do a live. Updates up there at Homer Hops. Really wanna thank the folks from Homer Hops last year reaching out to me and asking me how they could help the community of first responders and, and they kicked it off.

So they’ve been a good partner with us and we really appreciate their support and help. We will be there, from noon to five. And we have a LifeNet helicopter coming in. Oh wow. Round two o’clock. Is our goal to get them there on the ground. Round two o’clock, [00:03:00] we have somewhere between eight and 12, pieces of apparatus coming.

We have a food truck and an ice cream truck coming. You know, our primary goal is to beat the number of, folks that stopped in either all day or for a short period of time. And that number was about 250 to 300. So we’re really hoping to kick that up a little bit. And we’re gonna have our basket coordinator, Erica, she’s really knocking that dead for us to get a bunch of baskets together.

And we’ve got some other corporate sponsors such as Bailey Place and of course McNeil and Company or eip. One thing I want to just talk about real quick if we can, Harrison, is the number of fire departments believe 31 has the ability to help. Okay. And that’s in the neighborhood of 112. Wow. In four different counties.

Yeah.

John Harrison: That’s, it’s an incredible to 112, different fire departments that, that believe 31 is, is, is able to reach and, and able to bring support to, and, and aid to, just to, I mean, staggering [00:04:00] number, to, to wrap the head around and, and folks, if you want to. Come out and, you know, support first responders and, help, you know, help out and just, show up for the community.

Next, next weekend, October 11th, from noon to five at Homer Hops. It’s right on, route 90. It’s, gonna be a great day. John, any, any other, additional things that, you know, outside of, of next weekend’s, first responder day, any, any things people can look, look out for or ways that they can get involved with?

Believe 31.

Jon Barrett: Absolutely we’re looking for help not just, next weekend at the annual event, throughout the year. The, the biggest thing is we’re looking to build that membership of, personnel to, assist our, our Belief 31 team. You know, any, any part of assisting the team, you know, whether it be, if you can go to an a, an area event that we do throughout the year to help them.

You know, it’s, it’s one of those things that, you know, we need somebody to, to man the booth at one of the field days or one of the special events that’s taken place to kind of take the work or the, the burden off of the, the core group. [00:05:00] So, anybody that’s interested in jumping on board, we’re on Facebook.

We do have a website at, believe 30 one.org. You can visit that, send us a message on either, and, we want, we would welcome anybody to come, be part of the team. You don’t have to be an emergency responder.

John Harrison: Perfect. Yeah, folks, so, you know, get involved if there’s any way that, that you can help, any, anything that, that you, you have to offer, you know, they’re looking for, for people.

Melin, you know, I wanted to to ask you, you know, for any, any words of encouragement, words of, of wisdom. Someone who’s, who’s been in this for, for so long and is, is, you know, so strong and, and such a, a pillar of the community. Anything you, you know, you wanna say,

Mahlon Irish: I guess the best thing. I, I can’t say enough about Homer hops and what they’ve stepped forward.

Both for the fire department, because our hundred 50th anniversary was last year and, it, it kind of goes with the fire department, but they brewed a special beer for us. And they’ve also done some good things. With this [00:06:00] program last year. We could just hope for good weather, and hope that folks come out and, you know, support both the Believe 31 and Homer Hops.

The only other. Part of this that I would say is if you’re diagnosed with the cancer, you can’t just give up, you have to advocate for yourself. You, you have to have a positive attitude and just keep plugging forward. April of next year will be 12 years, since I had the official diagnosis, and I’m obviously so happy to still be here.

But this group. John and these guys have taken, I believe, 31 from a, a very small beginning to where it is today and the counties and, and you heard the number of fire departments that they represent. It’s just a, an amazing group of people to work for. And hopefully we have everything so far for the, events this summer have been good weather.

Let’s hope for another great weekend. And, you know, people come [00:07:00] out and en and enjoy the food, the beer, the camaraderie, look at fire trucks, the helicopters coming in, and just enjoy the day.

John Harrison: Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. Next weekend at at Homer Hops, folks from noon to five. It’s, gonna be a great time next Saturday.

And, we’ll, we’re, we’re starting to run a little short on time, but, pat, John, any, any last minute? Anything you wanna add in there? Just last minute, you know, things for folks to, to keep on, on their radar?

Jon Barrett: Yeah, absolutely. The, the biggest mission is here is, nobody fights alone As Mahlon is, outlined, getting that diagnosis or that, that you have cancer or some type of illness that, is life threatening, reach out.

We wanna, we wanna assist you with some resources that we have financially. Across the board. But, the key is nobody fights alone. We’re, we’re in this with the brother and sisterhood of the, the, the fire emergency services. So, please don’t be afraid to reach out and, talk to our group.

Patrick Quinn: My last comment really will be is, we’re also beginning a relationship with Guthrie, locally here to get some screening done, which is a, a [00:08:00] huge component for us is to get our, folks, screened.

Either at low or no cost. We’re trying to work with some different, providers to get that done. So be on the look on, out for that on 2026 that we can get, more screening for various, types of cancer for our folks.

John Harrison: Yeah, that would be, amazing from, from Guthrie if we can, you know, if you, you guys can get that set up.

Well, John Pat, Mahlon. Thank you guys so much for, for joining me in the studio today. For another edition of me, Cortland County. This has been John Harrison on X 1 0 1.