On Friday, April 27th, 2012 the Westwood Fire Company celebrated another successful year at our 65th Annual Banquet.

This year's banquet, which highlights our 2011 operating year, was held at the Coatesville Country Club.

All of our active crew members, bingo helpers, social members, neighboring fire company Chiefs, Township Supervisors, and several special guests were invited to attend in appreciation for all that our members and friends do to keep the fire company operating throughout the year.

The banquet began at 6PM with an hour of hors d'oeuvres and socializing, with dinner and our welcoming introductions starting at 7PM.

Chaplain Amer welcomed all in attendance and thanked everyone for coming, and led everyone in a prayer and salute to the flag. Everyone was then dismissed by table by the staff of the Country Club for a buffet style dinner.

As dinner was concluding, it was time to begin the banquet presentations and awards ceremonies. First, our special guests were introduced. Chief McWilliams welcomed our neighboring Fire Company officers while EMS Chief Sly introduced our EMS guests and municipal officials.

Chief McWilliams then introduced the 2011 Fire operations officers and presented the 2011 Firefighter awards. Firefighter/EMT Grossman was presented with the 2011 3rd Place Firefighter of the Year Award. Firefighter/EMT Celii was presented with the 2011 2nd Place Firefighter of the Year Award. Firefighter Zwick was honored as the 2011 1st Place Firefighter of the Year.

Chief McWilliams also highlighted the 308 Fire/Rescue responses handled by our volunteers in 2011 and praised everyone for their support.

Past EMS Chief Chris Biddle was then called upon to present the 2011 EMS awards.

The 2011 3rd Place EMS Provider of the Year was EMS Lieutenant Devine. The 2011 2nd Place EMS Provider of the Year was presented to Chief McWilliams. Deputy EMS Chief McGinn was honored as the 2011 1st Place EMS Provider of the Year. EMS Lieutenant Devine was also presented with a special award from Past EMS Chief Biddle for her humorous "Facebook" accomplishment. The 2011 EMS Driver of the Year was presented to Fire Police Lieutenant Pilotti.

Fire Police Leary came forward to present the 2011 Fire Police Officer of the Year awards. Second place Fire Police Officer of the Year 2011 was presented to Fire Police Officer Bob Law. Fire Police Lieutenant Jim Pilotti was honored as the 1st Place Fire Police Officer of the Year 2011.

A special award presented each year is the Joseph Sweigart Memorial Award, also known as our President's Award. Joe was our longtime President who served the Fire Company for many years. Each year, one member of the Fire Company will be chosen to receive this award in memory of Joe. He or she who is chosen is someone in the Company who goes above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis, provides dedicated service to the Company and Community, and advances the Fire Company to new levels as we progress into the future.

This year, the award was presented to current Membership Secretary and active Firefighter Rick Axe. Rick has been a member of the Company since 1974. In addition to his time as a Firefighter, Driver, and past Lieutenant, Rick serves as our Membership Secretary coordinating all memberships and dues. He has served as Membership Secretary since 2001 following the retirement of our longtime previous Membership Secretary, Ron Walp.

The next presentation was the Chester A. Taylor Fire Chief's Award. This award will be presented annually to a Firefighter who exemplifies the spirit of a volunteer in their relentless commitment to the Fire Company and the Community. The 2011 award was presented to Deputy Chief Joe Deckman. Deputy Chief Deckman has been a member of the Fire Company since 1994 and has served in several operational roles including Captain and Deputy Fire Chief. In 2011 he held the position of Deputy Chief under the leadership of Chief McWilliams. Deputy Chief Deckman is consistently one of our top Fire responders and faithfully assumes EMS Duty shifts during the overnight hours. He also leads our training and can often be found assisting at our many community and fundraising events.

Following the awards presentations, EMS Chief Sly made several special presentations to the our municipal Boards of Supervisors and neighboring agencies, some of whom were present with us this evening.

The first presentation focused on the formation of our second ambulance station providing coverage to West Caln, West Brandywine, Wallace, and East Brandywine Townships. The West Caln Township Board of Supervisors, represented by Chairman Paul Pfitzenmeyer and Supervisor Don Martz were presented with a plaque expressing our appreciation for their selection of Westwood as the primary ambulance service for their township. Additionally, the Board was thanked for the continued fuel contribution to the ambulance service.

The West Brandywine Township Board of Supervisors, represented by Chairman Josef Obernier was presented with a similar plaque expressing our thanks. Both municipalities faced several months of meetings to determine which ambulance service could best serve the Townships which ultimately concluded with the selection of Westwood Ambulance.

Cornerstone Adminisystems, our third party ambulance billing agency, played an instrumental role in our research and development of this new ambulance service. Vice President Tom Minnich and Director of Business Development Scott Ryno were presented a plaque to the staff of Cornerstone for their assistance in our venture.

Both of our ambulance stations are assisted on many calls by responders from the Sadsburyville Fire Company Quick Response Service, East Brandywine Fire Company Fire Company Quick Response Service, and Glen Moore Fire Company Quick Response Service. These providers respond to medical emergencies and assist with patient care. These agencies do not bill for services as a traditional ambulance would, so a modest donation was presented to representatives from each agency for their assistance. Sadsburyville QRS Captain Supplee, East Brandywine Chief Edwards, and Glen Moore Chief Seese were each presented with a check from Westwood Ambulance as a sign of our continued appreciation for their assistance.

Finally, our partners at the Wagontown Fire Company were thanked for their support. President Dunlap and Chief Ziegler were presented with an appreciation plaque for their gracious support of our ambulance service and their contribution by allowing our personnel and vehicle to be housed at their facility at no charge.

A presentation was made to the Valley Township Board of Supervisors for their support and assistance in purchasing our new 2012 Pumper/Tanker which is expected to be completed within the next 2 weeks. Hats were presented to the Board displaying the logo of our apparatus manufacturer, 4 Guys Fire. It is with great appreciation that we thank these men and women for their continued support.

The next presentation was given to Minqaus Fire Company President and Deputy Chief Michael Miller. Chief Miller has been working in cooperation with the Westwood Fire Company to assist us in establishing a catering division with liquor in order to supplement our funding streams for the future. Chief Miller was presented with Honorary Lifetime Membership to the Westwood Fire Company.

The last presentation was made by EMS Chief Sly announced the top responders of the Fire Company who were presented with cash to assist with fuel reimbursements for responses thanks to a 2010 Federal SAFER Grant for volunteer retention which was received last year. This grant will provide for an incentive program for personnel who are the top responders over the next four years to receive reimbursements for fuel usage and other financial assistance. Volunteers were awarded funds as low as $100 and as high as $599 for their hard work and dedication.

The presentations were wrapped up for the evening and the microphone was turned over to Deputy Chief Deckman and his wife Lori for door prize distribution.

Dancing and more socializing then commenced with music from the DJ throughout the evening. We would like to thank Disc Jockey Cory Huth for another great evening! We highly recommend you contact him for your event.

We would like to thank all of our guests, friends, Township Supervisors, and members for all their help and support throughout the year, as well as all of those who graciously donated gifts to our members.

Thanks to everyone for another successful year.

We would like to express our thanks to the Valley Forge Fire Company for standing by at our station for the duration of our banquet so that our personnel could enjoy a night away while keeping our community well protected.

Once again, a very special thank you to Photographer Mary Ann "Photodog" Kyte for the great pictures!