Beer, wine OK’d aboard fireboat during Maritime Festival
The fireboat Fire Fighter museum is joining the East End Seaport Museum’s Maritime Festival for the first time this September. And the museum will be serving beer, wine, cigars and food to help raise money for maintenance of the historic vessel.
The boat’s entrance into the festival comes after a couple weeks of confusion on whether the non-profit would need approval from the village board first. The Seaport Museum is responsible for approving vendors, but unlike other vendors, the museum is moored on the Railroad Dock, which the village recently acquired control of from the county.
However, following talks between the Seaport Museum and the village attorney, the fireboat can move forward without a vote from village board members, Seaport Museum president Ron Breuer said Thursday.
Fire Fighter still must abide by the Seaport Museum’s guidelines that require it to obtain separate insurance and alcoholic beverage permits for the event, Mr. Breuer said.
“We are treating them like any other non-profit vendor,” he said.
In addition to serving refreshments, Fire Fighter will also be the site of live music and boat tours during the three-day festival. There are also plans for the boat to sail into the harbor for a water cannon display.
The 25th annual festival is Sept. 19-21.