Photo by Gage Vota Children are jumping for joy at Betty Zane Days.

MARTINS FERRY — Betty Zane Days is officially underway at the Martins Ferry City Park until Saturday.

The annual festival, hosted by the Martins Ferry Volunteer Fire Department, is aimed to provide the community with a fun and safe event.

MFVFD Chief II Justin Smith looks forward to the festival every year because it is one of only times a year that the entire department is able to all get together.

“The fire department only gets together like twice a year, our annual meeting and Betty Zane Days. It’s nice to get the whole department to come help out and get together and see everybody,” Smith said. “It’s really nice seeing everybody come together, especially the community.”

This year marks the 25th that the Fire Department has taken the reins of the festival.

“It’s still going strong, It’s changed a little bit throughout the years. The prices for some of the big rides have gone up so high that we just can’t afford them anymore, but we do the best job we can to give the kids throughout the community a good time,” MFVFD Chief I Ron Hilton said.

Hilton sees some residents are unhappy that the bigger rides have gone away and he understands the frustration, but wants to stress that his department has been priced out of being able to afford the big rides and attractions.

“We want to make it affordable for the whole community, not just half of the community. That’s why we keep our wristbands at $10 so the whole community can enjoy this day,” Hilton said.

The festival started off with a 5K run/walk, multiple food and craft vendors, live music, rides, games, cornhole tournament, and a mechanical bull.

Hilton said that his favorite part of the event is keeping the tradition alive.

“It’s a tradition that’s been going on for the last 25 years. The men that came before us have continued this on, and we just don’t want to drop the ball. We want to keep it going and have a strong commitment to the community to have this every year,” he said.

The longstanding festival is to honor local hero Elizabeth “Betty” Zane, a famous figure during the American Revolutionary War whose actions led to American fighters being able to defend Fort Henry at the site of modern-day Wheeling in 1782.

Martins Ferry Mayor John Davies looks forward to seeing the entire community come together year after year to have fun while eating good food.

As the festival began, a branch from a tree near the stage broke. So to ensure everyone’s safety, the MFVFD and Davies sprung into action, bringing a fire truck onto the festival grounds. A volunteer firefighter climbed the truck’s ladder with a chainsaw and removed the broken branch. Davies carried the branch away after it fell to the ground.

“We’re just securing the place and making it safe for everybody who comes out and enjoys the day,” Davies said after cleaning up the debris.

The festival rolls on through the rest of the week and will see Eli Lambie take the stage on Thursday. Friday’s entertainment will feature DJ Daner. Also on Friday, a cornhole tournament will begin with registration between 5-6 p.m.

Saturday’s festivities will begin at 10 a.m. with a craft and vendor fair. Following that fair, a parade will begin at noon with the annual firefighter water battle starting immediately after on Fourth Street near Unified Bank.

The water battle involves teams of firefighters from various departments dressed in gear using pressurized water from fire hoses to push an old barrel on a suspended line.

Saturday’s festivities end at 9 p.m. with the Police vs. Fire Mush Ball game located at the park’s baseball field.