ORANGE BEACH, Ala.  — Think Pink!

That’s what Orange Beach Professional Firefighters Association Local 4309 wants Baldwin County residents to do Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Wharf in Orange Beach.

The “Pink Heals” Tour, promoting breast cancer awareness, rolls into town with its fleet of pink firetrucks covered with 40,000 signatures of breast cancer survivors from all over the country.

Suzanne Moeller, event coordinator and member of the OBFD, said they want to  “turn Baldwin County pink” for a day to get the word out about breast cancer awareness and the importance of getting screened and having mammograms.

“This really hits home for us as one of our own firemen’s wife was diagnosed and lost her battle with this disease very recently. It touches us everyday and emotionally drives us to help fight for this cause with every ounce of our being. We don’t want to see anyone suffer, let alone one of our own. It’s not just our job to care of the sick and injured, but our dedication to take care of our families,” Moeller said.

Taking place in the grassy area and gravel lot next to Shucker’s Oyster Bar and Restaurant, Moeller said there will be a variety of food vendors including Bruster’s Ice Cream, OBFD selling hot dogs, Gonzales, La., Fire Department making cajun jambalaya and Foley High School baseball team selling drinks.

Gulf Shores High School Juniorettes will be selling raffle tickets and having a silent auction, Reef Dive Shop, Sunshine Satellite will have a tent set up with X-box and college football games and there will also be OBFD pink T-shirts, jewelry, hats, scarves and coins promoting breast cancer awareness available as well, Moeller said.

“There has been overwhelming community support for this event,” Moeller said, “and our main sponsors are Precision Imagining, The Wharf, Columbia Southern University  and the T-Shirt Factory.

“We are amazed at how many people want to get involved with this. Every day, I get a different call from someone wanting to help. We never thought it would be this big but we are thrilled,” Moeller said.

Also, and very importantly, there will be a wellness tent offering free breast cancer screenings from Precision Imagining and Liz Michon’s team of nurses and physician’s assistants.

“We will be giving blood pressure and diabetes screenings as well as giving away vouchers, gift certificates, door prizes and information packets,” Moeller said.

As an added incentive, Moeller said they plan to hold OBFD Captain Chance Ard “hostage” on the roof of The Wharf parking deck until 300 women sign up for a breast cancer screening.

“He volunteered to spend time in a pink tent with only a radio and a cell phone until enough women sign up. He will go up there on Friday morning and won’t come down until we have 300. We may give him some food and water but nothing else,” Moeller said laughing.

Baptist Hospital will have its LifeFlight helicopter there doing dem-onstrations, Moeller said, and Abrielle Mullins, the daughter of Mountain Brook Fire Department Fire Chief in Birmingham, will be providing musical entertainment.

Fire departments from all over Baldwin, Mobile and Escambia County, Fla., will be participating in the “pink parade” beginning at 11 a.m. at The Wharf entrance and will travel down main street to Shucker’s. Moeller said there will be four pink fire trucks from all over the United States participating as well as police, city and school floats from Foley, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

“This parade will be half a mile long and we are amazed at how big this event has gotten and how many people in the community want to get involved. It seems everyone knows someone who has or is being affected by breast cancer and we want to do our part to help as much as we can,” Moeller said.

This event has been in the works since January when OBPFA joined the national nonprofit organization “Guardians of the Ribbon Inc.” whose “Cares Enough to Wear Pink” campaign has swept across the county with rapid force.

According to their website, “Guardians of the Ribbon, dressed in pink fire suits, will drive pink fire trucks across the country every year to spread our awareness campaign supporting all women in their fight against breast cancer. Our mission is to lose the blue and don the pink in honor of women for three days on Oct.  25-27.”

Moeller said they have sold about 3,000 pink T-shirts since April, raising $30,000, and with that have been able to purchase a used firetruck they are painting pink.

And when next year's tour rolls around they will be able to have their pink truck be a part of it. They are also planning to have pink turnout gear and pink helmets as well.

“Our goal is to raise awareness and get people information so they can catch this awful and destructive disease before its too late…if we can catch and get treatment for breast cancer  in just one woman, we have achieved our goal,!” Moeller said.

The whole “Pink Heals” movement began in 2008 when Glendale, Ariz., firefighter Dave Graybill heard a fellow fireman was going to wear pink in honor of the women in Las Cruces, N.M., and decided to get involved too, according to the pinkfiretrucks.org web site.

So, he painted a firetruck pink and took off to 32 cities across the United States and a movement was born. His goal is to build a pink firehouse and continue to spread the message of breast cancer awareness across the country.

“We drive hundreds of miles at a time, carrying these signatures of very special people, mostly women, some men, and a few children. We are just drivers with a special message from them, to all of us who have not fought this battle yet. They tell us to load our guns, rally the troops and stand by their side, at the very least show support and if we must , join them in this fight, to end it with one swift blow,” said Dave Graybill.

To find out more about the “Pink Heals” Tour, visit their web site, pinkfiretrucks.org. To make a financial donation to OBPFA Local 4309, call President Asher Michon at (251) 228-0913.