City Times Staff

Plover Police Officer Seth Pionke (left), Traci Tauferner (center) and Sheriff Mike Lukas meet at the courthouse on Monday for the first planning meeting of the 2016 Guns and Hoses event. 

Police Chief Marty Skibba and Assistant Chief Jeff Davis from the Stevens Point Fire Dept., along with former Police Chief Kevin Ruder- who is this year’s fundraising chairman- were also present.

The Guns and Hoses event pits city firefighters against law enforcement in a friendly exhibition softball game, which SPFD has won for the past two years.

A big change in this year’s charity game, which benefits the Never Forgotten Honor Flight and local veteran’s organizations, is the inclusion of law enforcement from Plover and the sheriff’s office on the “Guns” team, which in years past was comprised only of police from Stevens Point.

Ruder said he hopes for a greater presence of military vehicles on public display for this year’s event, to better promote awareness of veteran’s issues and to reach more local veterans who are in need of assistance.

The game is slated for late August.