The Elko New Market Fire Department celebrated its 50th anniversary Thursday evening, Jan. 29, with a dedication of photo walls featuring photos of retired firefighters on one wall, current members on the other wall and photos from the department’s history. The photos and celebration were a reminder a community built the volunteer organization.
Jodi Muelken, president of the Elko New Market Fire Department’s Fire Relief Association, and Steve Schalwig were the masters of ceremonies for the event that had more than 70 people attending. The two welcomed everyone. Muelken welcomed the very first members of the fire department, to current members to their families. She said having everyone “together in one room is a powerful reminder of what this department has always been about: community.”
The fire department began when New Market and Elko were still separate communities, and Muelken said New Market having its own fire department was just an idea at first. New Market resident Jimmie Marsh shared the idea with fellow residents Joe Simon and Bob Vogel. “The three of them formed a group to explore what it would take to make a local department a reality. They met with fire chiefs from New Prague, Prior Lake, Lakeville, Lonsdale, and Northfield to learn and gather guidance,” Muelken said.
Before 1976, the New Prague Fire Department covered the cities of New Market and Elko and most of New Market Township, said Muelken. She noted Marsh, Simon and Vogel understood response times of 18 to 20 minutes were not working for a growing community. “The three attended many meetings with city councils and township boards. Reviews were mixed, and not everyone supported the idea,” Muelken said. “Some questioned why a department was needed when one hadn’t been necessary before,” said Muelken.
Marsh remembers those meetings, as some people thought there should be an investigation and one woman at a Webster meeting expressed her belief a New Market Fire Department would take business away from the Lonsdale Fire Department. He felt disbelief at the time at the reactions they received.
The three men found support from those willing to volunteer, said Muelken, adding by the fall of 1976, 30 men and women had expressed interest as volunteers and willing to take the training needed to be firefighters. “hat early dedication laid the groundwork for everything that followed,” Muelken said.
The New Market (city) community came together in 1977 for an auction to raise money for...
To see more on this story pick up the February 5, 2026 print edition of The New Prague Times.