A changing of the whistle

Saturday evening, April 11, at the 138th annual New Prague Firemen’s Dance & Drill, drillmaster Drew Koloc (left) handed over the whistle to new drillmaster Sam Peterson. Koloc is retiring with 14 years on the fire department, 11 as the drill team’s drillmaster. Peterson is a three-year member of the fire department and the department’s lone military veteran. Tradition calls for the drillmaster to be a military veteran. Peterson served in the U.S. Navy Seabees from 2009-2012. The 16-member drill team went through its paces before the dance at Park Ballroom. The New Prague Fire Department’s drill team dates back to the 1908 state fireman’s convention under the direction of drillmaster Ed Vanasek. When firefighters first started drilling, they traveled to neighboring communities to perform because they were the area’s only fire department drill team. In 1938, legend has it the firefighters drilled on ice to prove they could drill on ice and dry ground.