By Rick Palsgrove
Groveport Editor
Police officers and firefighters are friendly rivals and now some local first responders get to play out that rivalry on the softball field.
The Groveport Guns and Hoses Softball Game will be held on Field 5 at the Groveport Park, 7370 Groveport Road on June 4 at 3 p.m.
“The brothers and sisters of the Madison Township Fire Department will be playing against the combined might of the Groveport and Madison Township police departments,” said Groveport Police Lt. Josh Short. “Our local police and fire departments enjoy overwhelming support from our community. Although we try to be a little ‘different’ and sometimes less formal as first responders, the public often only sees us ‘at work.’ This gives us a chance to relax, have fun and just be human around the people we serve every day.”
Short said that, while the game will be free to anyone who wants to watch, the police officers and firefighters are asking everyone to bring a non-perishable food item that will go to the Groveport Food Pantry.
According to Short, Lee Woodard, who is the recreation manager at the Groveport Recreation Center, came up with the idea for the game.
When asked to describe the friendly rivalry that exists between police and firefighters, Short said, “All of the jokes, memes, and legendary myths about the rivalry between police and fire are 100 percent true. The regular line is that if the officer had scored higher on the test then he would be a firefighter, and vice versa. In all honesty, we are very fortunate to have such a wonderful local fire department and we’re proud of our professional relationship with them.”
Short said the police officers and firefighters hope this will be a fun event for the community that can become an annual occurrence.
“Plans are still coming together and we are looking for other fun and creative ways to get the community involved,” said Short, who then joked, “We will have an officer on hand to issue citations to anyone found rooting for the fire department!”
