The Cundy’s Harbor Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary was on life support in 2025 when local business owner Allison Hawkes and a group of friends stepped in to revive the organization before it slipped away.
The decades-old group, formerly known as the Ladies Auxiliary, provides fundraising and support for the independent, nonprofit department. Founded in 1983, it also helps organize the community’s signature summer event, Cundy’s Harbor Days.
Auxiliary member Jen Stuart said the group was about to dissolve when Hawkes, who runs village businesses Harborside Grill @ Holbrook’s and Hawkes’ Lobster, “stepped up to take it on with a bunch of new and old faces.”
Aside from its involvement in Cundy’s Harbor Days, the auxiliary also hosts an annual Christmas craft fair, potlucks, game nights, and other community and fundraising events. It also helps maintain a program that places American flags on every utility pole along Cundy’s Harbor Road.
Hawkes is now president of the organization, and local resident Beth MacLane is vice president. Hawkes and MacLane said they became interested in the auxiliary and started attending its meetings last year because Hawkes heard the group was at risk of dissolving.
“Allison is really the organizer,” MacLane said. “She kind of grabbed it at that moment when it was like, ‘OK, we can’t let this get disbanded.”
Hawkes said she has tremendous respect for the community’s fire and rescue volunteers and wanted to make sure they continue to receive the auxiliary’s support.
“These people aren’t paid,” she said. “They’re just volunteers who get up in the middle of the night … (and) I think that’s pretty awesome. I mean, how many towns run on a volunteer fire department? I can’t think of another town close to us that does.”
Hawkes said the auxiliary currently has about eight regular volunteers. Its Facebook page, where it posts notices of upcoming events, has about 700 followers. Those interested in donating or volunteering can contact Hawkes via email at cundysharborauxiliary@gmail.com.
Jonathan Burbank, president of the Cundy’s Harbor Volunteer Fire Department, said the auxiliary has long performed a key function in supporting the department’s brave volunteers.
The auxiliary also plays an important role in preserving local traditions such as Cundy’s Harbor Days, Burbank said. He expressed gratitude to the auxiliary’s new leadership for keeping the organization alive.
“Prior to the current auxiliary team, the thing had melted down to almost nothing,” Burbank said.
He said the auxiliary’s new leadership has been enthusiastic about coming up with new ways to support the fire department, such as holding a successful “yard sale” fundraiser recently at the Cundy’s Harbor Community Hall.
“They’re always thinking, ‘What else can we do?'” Burbank said. “I’m embarrassed at how much of a sloth I look like with these guys in a meeting. … They’ve got ideas by the ton.”
Stuart, the auxiliary member, helped launch another new fundraiser. The group now hands out Clynk bags, allowing residents to donate the redemption value of their returnable bottles and cans to the fire department.
Stuart said the auxiliary has a clear agenda that everyone in the community can get behind.
“My favorite thing about the auxiliary is that it has no sides to choose,” she said in an email. “Folks from all walks of life can come together with a common goal we all benefit from: building a stronger fire and rescue and the continued growth of a community we have either treasured growing up in, or have recently decided to call home.”
