How ‘Guns & Hoses’ has become an essential part of Can-Am Games
The physical and mental competitions played by first responders at the Can-Am Police-Fire Games will be followed each day by fun and fellowship events, and even some additional competitions.
Throughout the week of the games, Butler County restaurants will become the Guns & Hoses Lounge, and participants of the games are encouraged to attend after hours activity at a different venue each night.
According to Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe, who is chairman and chief executive officer of the local Can-Am board, the social events will be beneficial in not only making connections between departments, but helping officers network with one another.
“They have food and drinks available for all the participants to come and enjoy some camaraderie and get to know each other a little bit,” Slupe said.
Restaurants taking on the Guns & Hoses moniker include the Harmony Inn, 230 Mercer St., Harmony; the Beacon Hotel, 231 Beacon Road, Renfrew; the 11th Frame Bar and Grille, 540 Fairground Hill Road, Butler; Grist House Beer Crib, 795 Pittsburgh Road, Butler; Slippery Rock Golf Club & Events Center, 160 Ralston Road, Slippery Rock; and the Sports Grille at Cranberry Township, 1294 Freedom Road, Cranberry Township.
Deb Krelow, owner of the Beacon Hotel, said the business is planning several activities for Can-Am participants and their families Tuesday, including a chili cook-off and an encore round of its signature event, Fat Tuesday. An event she said she is also anticipating is the hot pepper-eating contest.
“Tuesday is the one we’re anticipating because we have so many people coming to town,” Krelow said. “There’s a ton of things we’re going to do.”
Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau, said the organizers of the games placed the Guns & Hoses Lounge strategically throughout the county, so visitors could get a full taste of what Butler County has to offer. He said one of the major reasons the bureau worked so hard to bring the games to Butler County was to bring people to the area and bolster the local business within.
“The idea was just to get them out to locations and to let them see different things,” Cohen said of the Guns & Hoses Lounge. “We talk to all our hoteliers to expect people to come visit. The reason we go after those type of events is to bring business in.”
Several people who have participated in the Can-Am Games before are looking forward to getting another chance at the gold this year, but also to meeting up with people they met at prior games.
Joshua Martini, of the Lawrenceburg police department in Rockville, Md., has played in the games three times before. He said connecting with people from other departments around North America is an important aspect of the games to him.
“It’s important to me to continue to keep alive the first responder camaraderie between the different service,” Martini said.
Likewise, Tyler Glenn, a patrolman with the Greenville Police Department, said the games are a fun opportunity to participate in games and “come together for a great cause.”
This will be the first Can-Am Games for a local officer, Cory McLaughlin, of the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company.
“ … Like to be involved with all fire service-related activities,” he said, “brotherhood of fire service and networking.”
Cohen said he plans to attend as many Guns & Hoses nights as he can throughout the week, in order to meet first responders from around the nation, to learn more about the people coming into Butler County from around North America.
