| This past Saturday night, the South Salem Fire District hosted its annual Inspection Dinner. For the past few weeks, members of the department spent countless hours cleaning and preparing the apparatus for judging and viewing by our neighboring departments and local dignitaries. As the days and hours ticked down to the judging, the competition between the companies heated up as members stayed late into the night making sure all the apparatus and equipment was spotless. Once cleaning was shut down, three neighboring Chiefs went through each piece of apparatus with a fine tooth comb, basing their scoring on the cleanliness of the cab, compartments, hose beds, equipment and overall appearance. Once the judging was complete, the scores were sealed and the dinner part of the Inspection began.
Almost 100 people attended this years Inspection, including members of the department, local politicians, chiefs and officers from surrounding departments. South Salem members were recognized in the following categories:
Members over 50 Years of Service:
Waldie Gullen – 69 years
Don Taylor – 64 years
Les Bischoff – 54 years
Tom Herzog -51 years
Bobby Bowen – 50 years
Members with 40 Years of Service:
Paul Black Jr. – 45 years
Anton Kostiew – 46 years
Hank Bauer – 43 years
Mike Lynch – 40 years
Al Koehl – 40 years
Bruce Bauer – 40 years
Jr. Firefighter of the Year – Thomas Mertens
Firefighter of the Year – Matt Yorke
Inspection Winner – Tanker 2 |
