Volunteer firefighters will not be holding their boot drive at the Marshville Heritage Festival this year.

Gord Davies, president of the Wainfleet firefighters association, was denied his request to hold the fundraiser.

Ald. Evan Main said at Monday's council meeting the firefighters receive bad press as they are taking donations from the street corner.

"They have an option, they can throw a toonie in a jar or not," Davies replied. "We give everyone a smile."

Mayor Barbara Henderson said she supports all township employees and she would not ask any employees to stand on the street corner.

Bob Shoalts represented the Marshville Heritage Festival at the committee meeting on June 24. He asked that the boot drive not become an annual event.

In a June 4 letter to council, the Marshville Heritage Committee said they heard negative comments about the boot drive.

"Any event that changes the visitor's perspective on coming to Wainfleet on Labour Day weekend can seriously impact the future success of the facility," said the letter, because all the committee's expenses are covered by this one event every year.

The boot drive would help raise money for equipment for the fire department, such as an imaging camera to help them detect hot spots, find victims and transmit the photos to a computer.

Henderson suggested making money available for specialized equipment in the upcoming budget.