Ashley Clinton Volunteer Fire Brigade medals presented

The Ashley Clinton Fire Brigade at their presentation evening at St Vincents at Oruawharo.

Past and present members of the Ashley Clinton Volunteer Fire Brigade, along with their families, dignitaries and neighbouring brigades, were present last month as brigade members were recognised and rewarded for their service.

The venue was St Vincents at Oruawharo, a regular supporter of local brigade functions.

Central Hawke’s Bay’s Gary Weaver attended as the United Fire Brigades Association (UFBA) Representative, while Nigel Hall stepped up at short notice to represent Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz), both continuing their association with local brigades and as always doing a great job in recognising the service of so many volunteers.

First up was a presentation of two-year bars to several brigade members, with a special feature being presentations to Ashley Clinton’s first two female members.

Katie Owen received her three-year certificate, while Aimee Congreve received her three-year certificate and her five-year medal. Both have become integral and popular members of the team, with the tongue-in-cheek comment being made that “brigade behaviour and topics of conversation post-practice has also improved dramatically since they joined.”

Colin Tyler and Nigel Hall.

The main event for the evening got under way with the presentation of Gold Stars and other gifts to recognise 25 years of service by both Senior Firefighter Colin Tyler and Senior Firefighter Marcus Kynoch, both second-generation firefighters.

Before the presentations, Gary and Nigel both thanked them for their involvement in the brigade and noted how important their commitment to both the fire brigade and their community has been. Families, and in particular wives Fi Tyler and Kirsty Kynoch, were also thanked for having to step up during practice nights, training courses or when the siren goes off.

Marcus and Colin thanked everyone involved for the organisation, medals and presentations and gave some memories of their 25 years.

For both firefighters, their involvement had started well before them joining, with both remembering the thrill of being taken for a ride in the fire engine as children, with both of their fathers being previous members. Notably for Marcus both his father Nigel and his son Ollie have been members and were both there to share in the celebration. Colin’s late father Trevor also received a Gold Star for 25 years of service.

Marcus Kynoch and Gary Weaver.

Marcus spoke on some of the more memorable events in his time in the brigade, some less positive events due to damage to friends’ properties and houses, but also recalled a more humorous event when attendance at a “controlled” burn at a local farmer’s crop paddock did not remain controlled for very long - a very urgent call placed asking for more assistance less than a minute after the initial routine call to say the controlled burn was about to take place.

Marcus’ comment that one of the best feelings was of being in a local brigade with your mates, helping out the community was reiterated by Colin.

One past member who was unable to attend was Pete Severinsen, who had started roughly the same time as Marcus and Colin, so many were really hoping he could have been there, as was Pete. However, iIl-health meant he was unable to attend and Pete has since passed away.