It is often said that firefighters, whether volunteer or service, constantly sacrifice their time and efforts to help their communities at a moment’s notice each and every day.
On Tuesday evening, Halls Volunteer Fire Department took a moment to honor its firefighters for their years of service to the department and the community they serve.
“I just want to thank everyone for coming out; we’re doing our business meeting a little different tonight, noted Halls Fire Chief Brian Royal as he opened the evening. ”We’re doing a celebration for our firefighters with 25 years or more active on the fire department. We’ve got 15 of those to be recognized, and when I was adding that up earlier, for combined service of those that we’re recognizing, it came up to around 524 hours of experience on this fire department. That’s just for those that have been active for 25 years or more. We’re very blessed to have the volunteers and I want to thank everybody for what y’all do.”
Jay Howell, North Carolina State Firefighters Association treasurer, honored the 15 firefighters with pins recognizing their efforts and service for Halls and their community for over 25 years.
“You don’t accidentally join the fire department and hang around for 25 or 50 years,” Howell told those in attendance. “(You don’t just) wake up one day and say, ‘golly, I’ve been hanging out here for 50 years.’ No, you did it intentionally. You were doing it intentionally and you did it with some help from home. Because you miss some birthday parties, Christmas dinners, some Thanksgivings and other events and activities in the name of the fire department and serving the public. You don’t do that with disregard.”
Howell also offered his appreciation to the Ladies Auxiliary and family members at home for their support of the members of Halls Fire Department. He then began to hand out the lapel pins to those who earned the honor.
“Chief Royal asked me to come do it in front of their peers, families and the members of the fire department,” Howell said. “It gives you something to strive for. These pins are earned with a lot of sweat. Those of you that have been here for 25 years plus, you’ve seen a whole lot of things that you can hardly talk about. Because if you didn’t see it, you wouldn’t believe it.”
There were two members of the fire department who reached 50 years of service with Halls: Glenn Bass, with over 53 years, and Carroll Royal, who just hit 50 years of service this year.
“It’s been a long time,” Bass recalled his time serving with the fire department. “I appreciate everything; I’ve enjoyed my time and it’s been good.”
Former Halls Fire Chief Lamar Brewer was among those honored for over 25 years of service, hitting 44 years, himself.
“It was an honor, really, to be recognized as a volunteer,” Brewer attested. “I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years. A lot of people come and go, some bad things, disasters through hurricanes and tornadoes. All my life, my objective has been to help someone. I’d give the shirt off my back if they need it at all. I don’t expect anything back, because I love to give to the community. I’ll help anybody and that’s the way I taught the firemen over the years as Chief. To help your fellow neighbor, that means a lot.”
Among those honored for 25 or more years of service were Festus Lee (45), Mike Wilson (39), Jerry Marshburn (36), Rufus Honeycutt (34), Tim Jackson (34), Graham West (33), Chief Royal (27), Wellie Jackson (27), Sherrill Bass (26), Lee Matthews (26), Doug Stewart (25) and Kevin Strickland (25).