Last night our department held its annual awards banquet. This year we had several members receive years of service awards and also had a promotion of rank during the ceremony as well.

With those years of service awards we celebrated a special one this year. Firefighter Larry Fields received his award for 50 years of service to the SVFD. When a member reaches 50 years of service you receive a custom axe. Larry joins a small list of current and former members who have reached this monumentous achievement of years of service and dedication to the residents of the Scioto Valley Fire District. The following is the list of people who have achieved 50 years:

Retired Chief John Boyd (Currently still serving as a firefighter)
Retired Assistant Chief Ron James
Assistant Chief Dave Stallsmith
Firefighter Larry Fields.

Shown in picture is Asst. Chief Stallsmith (who received his axe in 2018 and FF. Fields holding their axes. The axes were made by Lt. Tony Berry and each received a display stand which was made by Capt. Matt Purtee.

Larry has been in public safety his entire career serving as not only a firefighter but before retiring, Larry was an Advanced EMT for Stofcheck Ambulance as well as a Police officer for Marion City. During Larry's time with Marion City PD he was a part of starting Safety City, which is a program that educates children in several areas of safety such as, fire safety, Bicycle Safety, and Stranger Danger. Larry still continues his love for educating children and assists every year with Safety Village at Elgin. We want to thank Larry for all his dedicated hard work to our community and others and look forward to his continued service.

Also receiving service awards for 2018 and 2019 last night were the following:

Lt. Tony Berry- 20 Years
Lt. Josh Harper- 15 Years
FF. Will Fassler- 15 Years
FF. Shawn Clark- 15 Years
FF. Jeff McCormack- 10 Years
Lt. Shaun Conley- 5 Years
EMT Jennifer Conley- 5 Years
EMT Bethany Trihaft- 1 Year

As well as receiving his 15 year service award, Josh Harper who serves as our EMS Coordinator was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Josh is a Firefighter/Paramedic. Josh recently married his lovely bride Terra. As well as serving our community, Josh is a full time paramedic for Delaware County EMS and a Firefighter/Paramedic for Northern Union County Fire. Lt. Harper has been one the vital people in our department who helped establish our EMS service that we are currently providing today. He has also worked hard to secure several grants to obtain equipment that has helped greatly improve the care that we can provide to our patients.

Please join us in congratulating everyone from last night who received awards and promotion.