RFD to kick off T-shirt pre-orders at Watermelon Festival

This year’s T-shirt will be navy

By Alison James

alison.james@fct.wpengine.com

It’s time once again for the Russellville Fire Department breast cancer T-shirt sales, and this year everything kicks off at the Watermelon Festival.

“All the money we raise stays in our county and goes into a fund that is administered by the hospital,” explained firefighter Rhett Bradford, who is heading up the campaign this year.

Money collected from the T-shirts provides financial assistance for women who need testing to detect potential breast cancer, a fund which Bradford said has helped many over the four to five years the RFD has held the sale. “It’s been a good thing, no doubt,” Bradford said.

This year, people wanting to purchase a shirt must pre-order them.

“The past couple of years we’ve gotten stuck with a lot of T-shirts,” Bradford said. “People ordered them, and they never came back to pick them up.”

Pre-orders will begin at the Watermelon Festival, where RFD will have a booth near the stage. Youth through adult sizes will be available in short sleeve and long sleeve options, and Bradford said they will have a sample of each shirt on display.

Cost will likely be about $15 for the short-sleeved and $18-20 for the long-sleeved shirts, although Bradford said they are still ironing out those details.

Bradford said he expects to get good response at the Watermelon Festival with the wide exposure to thousands of people. Of course, the T-shirt campaign has been a successful one by RFD ever since it was started by Steve Thornton.

“I think he saw a lot of other departments around our area doing stuff like that,” said Bradford. He added that he think people are particularly supportive because the funds stay local. “I think that’s why we do so well with it every year: because it stays here and helps people here.”

T-shirts can be purchased with cash or check with checks made out to RFA.