about us

The Madison County Firemen’s Association was organized originally as the Madison County Fireman’s Association in 1930 by James Marsh of Granite City, William Stoneham and C. E. Maguire of Wood River and Dennis Hentz of Edwardsville. One of the first actions of the association was the enactment of the Death Benefit plan. In the beginning, each of the associations’ members were assessed 50 cents and the surviving family would receive a payment of $46.00. Today, the assessment is $1.50 per member and the family receives a payment of $1,550 and to date has paid out well over $1,000,000.

In 1973, bingo games were started each Sunday in Venice. As they became more profitable, there was a proposal to purchase the Biederman Furniture Store (now the Firemen’s Hall) in Collinsville which was completed in March 1975 with the first Bingo held in May of 1975. Currently, bingo is held on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and twice on Sunday.

In the beginning, the profits from bingo were used to fund a retirement program for the Madison County Firefighters. However, the advent of casino and investments not making good enough returns, the pension plan became unsustainable, and we eventually disbanded. In exchange, the money that was previously earmarked for the pension was then put into an account and each year those funds were then donated to
the departments working the bingos.

The organization holds executive meetings on the second Thursday of each month to address the needs of the organization. They also hold county meetings on the third Thursday of every other month at a location sponsored by a hosting department.

The association holds an annual family picnic each year on the first Sunday in August at Lindendale Park in Highland to show their appreciation to the firefighters and their families. They also host a Christmas party at the hall on the first Saturday in December for the children and grandchildren of current and retired Madison County Firefighters.

The association provides scholarships for high school seniors, who are children of active or retired association members. The scholarship application is available around December or January and is due by March 15. The also provide scholarships for active firefighters that are members of the association that pay for training out of their own pocket. For more information on scholarships, contact the executive officers of the association.

The current officers of the association are President Robert Newberry, Vice President Mark Martin, Secretary Ron Cobine, and Treasurer Kerry Federer.

The building is managed by the Building Manager Ed Allsman.