We see fire hydrants alongside our streets and highways every day. They do an important job.  Like many things, they are sometimes taken for granted. That's not the case, however, with a man from Fairview Township.  He likes fire hydrants so much he wrote a song about one.

David Slubowski purchased the hydrant two years ago at a silent auction conducted by the Girard Township Fire Department. The department put eleven hydrants on display for the auction.

"I love history.  Especially in Northwestern Pennsylvania and all of Pennsylvania.  When I saw them laying there I thought, 'Wow. I might try to get one,” recalled David.   

David submitted a successful bid and took the hydrant home.  He sanded it and painted it and last fall placed it in a garden near the side of his house.  Three weeks ago, as David was thinking about Dan Rice Days in Girard, it hit him.  He was going to write a song about the hydrant that served Girard Township so well for so many years. 

"I wanted to personify it," he said.  "All the material was there in my head and then because of Dan Rice Days, I thought maybe we'll put this into a song."

The opening line was easy to write with David envisioning the hydrant on duty on a Girard Township road.

"She stood at attention on the township road with arms out in two directions."

Other parts of the song deal with things like the many coats of paint the hydrant had over the years.. and how dogs loved to lift a leg while passing by the hydrant. But, most of the song deals with the hydrant's service to the community.

"Always at the ready for a dire episode.  Functionally built without fashion."

"Emotions she witnessed were many with calls to open her pores.  Tireless when she was defending her mission in life to support."

David is a member of an acoustic rock band called "Bus 17."  Naturally, the group played the song at this year's Dan Rice Days.  The retired hydrant staying behind at its new home.

"In a garden she's now located.  A place of honor never alone."

The song is titled "Ode to a Fire Hydrant."  It can be found on You Tube by simply searching that title.

David is a semi-retired teacher at the Barber National Institute.   He has written 75 other songs during his writing career.