Not just bluffin’

Holtons advo­cate for local fire depart­ment

On any giv­en day, you’ll find Amber Holton invest­ing time in wor­thy activ­i­ties. She’s a wife, daugh­ter, and friend. As a Coastal Elec­tric mem­ber ser­vice rep, she assists co-op mem­bers with a smile and her kind dis­po­si­tion. She also vol­un­teers in the com­mu­ni­ty where she was born and raised, McIn­tosh Coun­ty.

Now, Amber and her hus­band, Adam, are invest­ing quite a bit of time fundrais­ing for a cause close to their hearts—McIntosh Coun­ty vol­un­teer fire departments—after they were nom­i­nat­ed to run for the titles of Mr. and Miz Shell­man Bluff.

But the Holtons’ ties to local fire depart­ments go beyond just fundrais­ing. The cou­ple serves togeth­er at the Shell­man Bluff Vol­un­teer Fire Department—Adam as assis­tant chief and Amber as secretary—handling admin­is­tra­tive duties, man­ag­ing equip­ment and, occa­sion­al­ly, assist­ing with exte­ri­or fire­fight­ing, though Amber tries to down­play it.

Mr. and Miz Shell­man Bluff is spon­sored by Friends of Shell­man Bluff, a non­prof­it ded­i­cat­ed to improv­ing the qual­i­ty of life for the res­i­dents of Shell­man Bluff and sur­round­ing com­mu­ni­ties. The Shell­man Bluff St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the group’s pri­ma­ry fundrais­er and ben­e­fits the Shell­man Bluff and Har­ris Neck vol­un­teer fire depart­ments, along with com­mu­ni­ty improve­ment projects.

Last year, the Friends of Shell­man Bluff helped pur­chase 10 new sets of gear for the fire depart­ment. This year, Amber hopes the pro­ceeds will buy four new com­pos­ite air tanks to replace the old­er, heav­ier mod­els the fire­fight­ers cur­rent­ly car­ry, pro­mot­ing safe­ty, bal­ance, and ease of mobil­i­ty.

“When our fire depart­ment had been through a lot of changes and need­ed some help, the Friends of Shell­man Bluff bought the equip­ment we need­ed,” O Amber says. “They’re there to sup­port us. The least we can do is sup­port them. It’s good for both of us.”

The Holtons’ fundrais­ing efforts have tru­ly been grassroots—walk inside any busi­ness in Shell­man Bluff and you’ll most like­ly see a dona­tion jar with their pho­to on it. Posters around town also fea­ture links to Ven­mo and Cash App accounts. In addi­tion, they stood for hours to work a boot dri­ve at the community’s three-way stop and threw a Mar­di Gras mas­quer­ade par­ty.

If named Mr. and Miz Shell­man Bluff, you’ll see Adam and Amber rid­ing the fire truck in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 25 at 11 a.m. Accord­ing to Amber, the real perk of the title—besides the mon­ey raised—is brag­ging rights for the year.

For more infor­ma­tion or to donate, vis­it the group’s Face­book page, Insta­gram account, or their web­site.