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LAWRENCETOWN, N.S. —

Firefighter Brian Sturney was presented with awards and certificates when the Lawrencetown Volunteer Fire Department held its annual banquet and awards ceremony Feb. 23.

Sturney received his LVFD 25-year pin, certificates from the county, the province, and the federal government, plus his 25-year provincial medal.

He was one of four firefighters getting hardware. Stephanie Sherman received her one-year pin, Ethan Stultz received his five-year pin, and Cale Anthony (who wasn’t able to attend) earned a 10-year LVFD pin and government certificates.

Beavercreek Winery’s Les and Paulette Wade donated $1,000 to the fire department, money raised at their annual Christmas craft fair.

Phyllis Dukeshire of Canada Post in Paradise, presented the department with a limited edition print of a first responder firefighter stamp that will be displayed in the fire hall.

In his annual report, Chief Mike Stoddard noted that the department responded to 68 calls including one structure fire, 24 mutual aid calls, one chimney fire nine medical assists, eight motor vehicle accidents, five car fires, five grass or wood fires, five power lines down, seven fire alarm sounding calls, and three uncategorized calls.

“Our membership saw some growth in this past year,” Stoddart said. “I would like to welcome aboard Stephanie Sherman and Stephen Li. We did lose one member in 2018. We’re off to a good start in 2019 as I would like to welcome Rob Stratton as our newest member.”

He said the roster currently stands at 35.

2018 Rundown

Stoddart gave a rundown on 2018 including the 1,500 hours firefighters spent on calls, 2,000 hours of training, and 3,000 of fundraising, including their famous fish and chips stand at the Annapolis Valley Exhibition and Redneck Rodeo, and parking cars for both events.

The department had two members completed their Level 1 training in 2018, conducted fire prevention activities at various locations, provided fire extinguisher training, assisted the Village of Lawrencetown with Canada Day and Christmas in the Village activities, and suffered the loss of two former retired members – Claude Lowe and Alfred Crouse – who between them had dedicated 75 years to the department.

“This past year we made some improvements to our property,” Stoddart said. “New lights were installed in our parking lot. We also installed a guide rail near the west end of our parking lot.”

They also gave their storage shed, the old train station, a major facelift.

Brian Reid brought greetings from the Lawrencetown Village Commission, and Martha Roberts for the County of Annapolis.

While Stoddart thanked the village for its support over the years, he noted that for more than 25 years the village had donated fuel for the department’s trucks.

“In the past few years this has been a savings of around $3,000 per year four our department,” Stoddart said. “In March the village will be removing their fuel storage tank and we will no longer have a 24-hour-a-day access to fuel. Not only will this be an inconvenience to us, it will also be a financial loss for this department.”

Also attending the Lawrencetown banquet were chiefs from several other local departments. Regrets came from Annapolis MLA Stephen McNeil and West Nova MP Colin Fraser.