DUNDEE—The Dundee Fire Department honored the work of their members in 2011 with their annual celebration dinner on Friday, Jan. 27. During the event, awards were presented to select members of the fire department and emergency squad, along with community members who supported the organization over the past year. Fire Chief Ray Miller gave the awards for the fire department. He said 2011 was a busy year for the department and expressed his appreciation for all the hard work of all of its members. “It’s a blessing to have people dedicated to this,” Miller said. He explained that during the past year, the fire department took in 14 new firefighters. Miller referred to that amount of new members as “the highest I can remember in years’ time.” He also said 2011 was the first year the department let in members who were 16 years of age. Miller explained that while members of that age could not do interior work, they could still help with tasks such as installing ladders to trucks. Miller said there were 178 fire calls during the year. He noted the department responded to 21 requests for mutual aid. This included two calls in Penn Yan, eight in Himrod, three in Tyrone, six in Watkins Glen, one in Wayne and one in Dresden. Miller also added the fire department responded to two state-wide mutual requests. One was in the Ulster County area for three days. The other was in the Binghamton area for two days. Miller said that over those five days, 60 basements were pumped and 232 buildings were assessed for storm damage. Tracey Miller was named Fireman of the Year. The Past Chiefs Award went to Dan Petersen. Ed Allen had the most training hours: 138. Four individuals received Outstanding Service Awards from the fire department. They were Glenn Sensenig, Loren Weaver, Steve Hill, and Lamar Sensenig. Miller said each of them were “very active people” in the department. Special Service Awards were given to Don Austin, Greg Miller, Obed Martin, Justus Martin, Alec Miller, Doug Miller and Abram Martin. Community Service Awards went to Robert Druker and Dwight Rogers. Steve Warriner, the second assistant to the chief, said “we can’t thank him (Druker) enough for what he does.” Miller praised Rogers for helping the fire department out with income and state taxes, along with paperwork. Miller recognized Glen Miller for writing a grant that helped the department receive around $46,000 from FEMA to help improve their communications systems. “I want to thank Glen for his dedication and work on this,” Ray Miller said. Glen Miller was presented with a set of coins as a token of appreciation for his work writing the grant. Ray Miller also recognized Leo Disbrow for 50 years of service to the fire department. Austin, who is the emergency squad captain, presented the awards on the ambulance side. He said there was a total of 571 ambulance runs during 2011. “For a small town, we do a lot of running around,” he said. Ambulance Member of the Year went to Diane Warriner. Ambulance Driver of the Year went to Alex Sullivan. The emergency squad member with the most training hours was Dan Gotshall, who logged in 123 hours during the year. Outstanding Service Awards for the emergency squad were given to Sharee LaMountain and Zach Sullivan. Austin referred to both of them as “very active.” Along with awards for the fire and ambulance sides, a Special Chief’s Award was given to Village of Dundee Clerk Chris Sutherland and Deputy Clerk Cheryl Wood. Miller said there is a lot to keep up with on the business side for the department and that both Sutherland and Wood have done a great job with dealing with that. Warriner also praised Miller for all his hard work with both fire and ambulance. Warriner explained how Miller was involved in 471 calls total for both sides and how he should be commended for his efforts. Those present at the celebration gave Miller a standing ovation. State Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R-C-I, Corning), who was present at the banquet, also offered words of praise for the efforts by Dundee Fire Department members in 2011. “I just wanted to say thank you to all of you,” he said. “Coming to these events is the best part of my job. All of you are the backbone to our rural neighborhoods.” Along with receiving plaques, fire and ambulance members who won awards also received certificates from Palmesano and State Sen. Tom O’Mara (R-C, Big Flats). The certificates from O’Mara, who was unable to attend the event, were distributed by Palmesano who said the senator sends his regards to members of the fire department.
