Stirling Volunteer Fire Co. Honors Firefighters
Submitted by Firefighter Frank Reilly
Stirling Volunteer Fire Company held their annual awards ceremony and introduction of officers in late June. The event usually occurs early in the year, but was delayed due to the pandemic.
Stirling Volunteer Fire Company President Craig Tuma opened the event with a prayer and summary of the year 2020’s activities, which were severely impacted by the Corona virus pandemic. He reported that they responded to 258 alarms during the year accounting for 3,211 man hours spent. Normally they answer well over 300 alarms a year. An additional 1,000+ hours on training and more than 1,600 hours on work details were accounted for. These numbers were significantly lower than normal due to the pandemic.
He then introduced the 2021 officers: Chief John Whitmore, Deputy Chief Randy Wojtech, Assistant Chief Dawher Castro, Captain Antonio Centurion, and Lieutenant Nick Pepe. Administrative officers are Craig Tuma President; Matt Picone, Vice President; Treasurer Alex Honegger; and Alec Meehan, Secretary.
The next order of business was the awards ceremony. Recognized for their dedication and years of service were: George Armenti and Pete Falzarano, 55 Years of service; past Chief Steve Remington, 25 Years of service; and Jordan Nigro, 15 Years of service.
The President’s Award went to Life Member and past President Albert Pepe.
The Firefighter of the Year award went to Joe Conant.
A special award was presented to past Chief Al Gallo for his many years of service and dedication to the Fire Company. It is the custom of the Fire Company to honor an out-going Fire Chief since it is a very difficult and time consuming job. He received a standing ovation.
Mr. Tuma thanked the representatives from neighboring fire departments for their assistance when needed as well as thanking the Police Dept., First Aid Squad, Mayor, Township Committee, Administrator, and families of Stirling firefighters for their unwavering support.
