Rocky View Fire Services held its Years of Service awards ceremony in Balzac at Rocky View County Hall on Oct. 1.
The ceremony recognizes the years the municipality’s firefighters have put in as first responders representing all seven of the County’s active fire halls.
RVC Deputy Mayor and Division 3 Coun. Crystal Kissel and Fire Chief Randy Smith presented the long-service awards to about two dozen firefighters, whose years of service spanned from five years to as much as 42 years.
District Chief Dennis Rowney and firefighter Mike Holley both received their 40-year bars during the Oct. 1 ceremony as the two longest serving members to receive recognition during the awards ceremony.
Rowney, speaking for both himself and Holley, said it was a great honour to have his years of service recognized in such a way.
“I started with Crossfield volunteer station, and the Crossfield rural fire board,” recalled Rowney. “It’s quite an accomplishment (to make 40 years). The other day I felt a bit (old). One of my captains said, ‘Forty years? Do you realize I wasn’t born yet 40 years ago?’”
Rowney reflected on all the changes he had seen within firefighting services within Rocky View County during his time in the department.
“I think it is seven different fire chiefs I have gone through in Rocky View,” he recalled. “I outlasted all those. It has (seen) a lot of changes over the years, but it has been a great place to work. The people are great to work with. [Headquarters] is really good to work at. The equipment we have got is amazing.”
Rowney, who still farms near Madden, was raised in RVC and has lived in the county all his life. Forever a busy bee, he said he also drove a school bus for over 30 years.
“I guess I can go 30 years with the school bus, I can go 40 years with Rocky View (Fire), and 50 years farming,” he said with a chuckle.
Fire Chief Randy Smith, who was also recognized with 40 years of service as an active duty firefighter in Canada during the Oct. 1 ceremony, said handing out service medals and awards to his fellow firefighters, and recognizing their hard work and dedication, is one of the best parts of his job.
“It’s the camaraderie,” he said. “It is being part of a larger team … When you think about Rocky View County, actually the fire service is not that old. Most fire services have a hundred years of tradition. Rocky View County really came into its being in the early 1990s or late 1980s as a volunteer station.
“So when you see individuals that have 20, 30 or 40 years in the service in Rocky View County, it just shows that it must be a good organization to belong to. People want to be part of a winning team, and so I think it reflects (well) on the organization.”
Smith said he was particularly thrilled to help recognize the individual heroism of two of his firefighters, James Kershaw and Carl Wenstrom, with Distinguished Service Award trophies during the Oct. 1 ceremony.
The two men were off duty enjoying a day out boating with their families on June 13, 2021, when they came across a kayaker in distress being dragged toward the Carseland Weir on the Bow River near the Johnson’s Island inlet in fast water. Acting quickly, the two men jumped in their power boat and put out from shore into this dangerous part of the river to rescue the kayaker, and were nearly dragged over the weir themselves before pulling the woman to safety and motoring away from the precipice.
“Not that we are encouraging our young firefighters to go out there and put themselves in undo risk, but this was a total spur of the moment thing,” Smith said. “They did what they had to do without thinking about it. It is important we recognize individuals, whether it’s a firefighter or a resident, when they actually do things that are outstanding like that and put themselves at risk. For this lady, it impacted the rest of her life. It impacted her family for the rest of their lives. So it is important we recognize these things.”
Service Award Honorees included the following:
12-year medals:
Marcel Dubois
Leigh Dudley
Warren Eckstrand
Patrick Farell
Craig Friesen
Matt McLane
Ryan Mulholland
Stephen Nogler
Lee Robinson
Maxime Royer
32-year bars:
Clark Graham
Ron Wenstrom
40-year bar/ federal 40-year service medals:
Mike Holley
Dennis Rowney
Randy Smith
20-year federal service medals:
Craig McCallum
Five-year pins:
Marcus Weckesser
Trina Rideout
15-year pins:
Leigh Dudley
Warren Eckstrand
Derek Holt
25-year certificate with RVC:
Ryan Poffenroth
31-year certificate with RVC:
Robert Wenstrom (ret.)
40-year certificate with RVC:
Dennis Rowney
Distinguished Service Award trophies:
James Kershaw
Carl Wenstrom
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee coins:
Thomas Blasetti
Ron Wenstrom
Dennis Rowney
