The annual Active Crew Awards Banquet was held on Saturday, January 21st, where several members received awards for their service throughout the past year.  The event was attended by the membership of the Volunteer Hose Company and their spouses, and invited guests of the local community and government.

Awards were presented to Dave Chillas, Abby Spezio, Glenn Scrafford, Rick Miramontez, Chad Jackson, Eric Lindstrom, Paul Elvey, Matt Adams, Kyle Kokozska and Derek Vento for top EMS responses for the year.

For the top fire responders, awards were presented to Matt Adams, Pat Langshaw, Brian Keszler, Robby Weber, Kyle Kokozska, Gary Burge, Robert Weber Sr, Sean Webber and Shawn Mullen.

Fire Department services awards were presented to Mick Schusteritsch, Shaun Rodgers, Chris Pitcher, Paul Watts, TJ Barrow, Alex Davis and Jeff Ong for 10 years of active service.  Mat DeMarco and Marie Burge were presented with 15 years of active service.  Additionally, Gary Burge was presented a award for 35 years of service, and Dave Chillas was presented for 50 years of service to the Volunteer Hose Company of Middletown.

The Junior Firefighter of the Year award was presented to Matt Adams.  Matt not only participated in many events while attending school, he also consistently participates in fire preventions, EMS responses and duty crews.

The EMT of the Year award was presented to Derek Vento.  Derek received top scores on his EMT testing and has been a outstanding contributor to the EMS program at the Volunteer Hose Company over the past year, riding as the primary EMT on many responses, as well as providing coverage to several stand-by's and duty crews.

The Firefighter of the Year award was presented to Kyle Kokozska.  Kyle was also the recipient of the Junior Firefighter at last years banquet.  During the past year, Kyle continued with outstanding service to the Volunteer Hose Company by continuing to be in the top responders in both Fire and EMS, as well as assist with many duty crews, EMS responses, moving vehicles around for service and overall demeanor while at the station.  He continues to do this while attending college and work.

Danny Burris received the Chiefs award for his dedication and many behind the scenes tasks that are undertaken through his many years of service to the department.