Medford mall fills the bill for fire street dance
A view from the stage while IV Play entertained the crowd shows just how large the crowd got Saturday night. Organizers were hoping up to 2,500 people would attend the annual Medford Fire Department street dance, which raises funds for the MFD Relief Association. Submitted photo
Ben Maas knows how to throw a party – and grow a party.
“We’re anticipating the turnout to be a bit bigger than last year,” he said of the annual Medford Fire Department’s street dance.
“We average about 1,500 to 1,800 people, and we’re hoping to hit 2,500 people,” Maas said.
It’s important to note here: There are only about 1,350 residents in the town.
“We’ve always done it down at the fire hall, and we just decided that we were going to possibly try to get bigger. We figured before we ran out of space, we’d fix the problem before it happened.”
Boy, did they.
Instead of the somewhat cramped quarters on a single block that also houses city buildings, the event Saturday night was able to stretch out in the nearly 10 acres of parking lot at the Ultra Outlets of Medford, formerly the Medford Outlet Center.
That meant plenty of room for parking, socializing and dancing.
Maas worked with the local site manager of the venue, which is owned by a private company in the Twin Cities area.
“They were so happy to help out in every way they could,” he said, including offering the space for no charge.
“Our only goal is to break even,” Maas said, “but it’s definitely a good moneymaker for our department. It takes a lot of money to throw this party, and there’s a lot of risk,” whether it’s the weather or simply low attendance.
Neither were an issue this year; the night was warm and humid, but there was a slight breeze as hundreds poured into the venue.
Live music played from 4:30 p.m. to midnight, with just a 30-minute break between bands at 8:30.
As he stood tearing groups of five tickets off a large roll, Maas fielded radio calls and frequent interruptions.
When he heard the entrance gate was running out of wrist bands, he smiled: “We had 2,000 of those.”
Proceeds from the event go to the Medford Fire Relief Association, which makes large donations to the department’s equipment fund. Maas was president of the relief association for about five years, before stepping down a few months ago.
A 12-year veteran of the MFD, he acts as the event coordinator, facilitating the annual street dance, breakfasts and many of the other fundraisers, using his 25-year career as a chef to his advantage.
“This community knows how to show up to support their fire department,” Maas said. “We just thank everyone who comes out, our sponsors, everybody. We love our community; we love helping give back.
“Everybody will enjoy a good party tonight.”
