Sean C. Morgan
Josh Bondesen was named the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District Firefighter of the Year, while the Police Department presented its Police Officer of the Year Award to Gerrit Southard, and Katie Lyon was named Dispatcher of the year Friday evening during the annual Public Safety Award Program held at Sweet Home Elks Lodge.
Other honorees included: Josh Starha, named SHFAD Employee of the Year; Christina Gallo, who received Citizen Appreciation Recognition; SHPD Sgt. Jason Van Eck, who received the department’s Life Saving Award; and Doug Shank, who received the SHFAD Keith Gabriel Humanitarian Award.
Other SHFAD awards included Rookie of the Year Coury Gagne; Medic of the Year Tanner Funk; and Officer of the Year Jeff Mather.
Additional SHPD awards went to Det. Keenan Martin, Firearms and Defensive Tactics Award; Tammy Arnold, Volunteer of the Year; Freddy Bratton, Volunteer Recognition; and Chaplain Kevin Greene, Certificate of Recognition.
Police Officer of the Year Gerritt Southard
“This guy has compassion,” said SHPD Sgt. Jason Ogden, presenting the award. “He just loves the community. He loves his job and he truly does care. He’s dedicated to the job.”
When someone calls in sick, he’s one of the first to hold over or to work an extra shift, Ogden said.
He’s also consistent, Ogden cracked, showing up for work every day exactly two minutes before work.
Firefighter of the Year
Josh Bondesen
Presenting the award, Virgil Kropf said that Bondesen was one of the first people he met upon joining SHFAD.
Bondesen became a mentor, Kropf said. “He’s just become a good friend to me. He’s done a lot for the department.”
He has taken over building maintenance and is involved in various projects, including additions and the construction of a new building, Kropf said. “He’s also a really good leader. He knows what he’s doing. Also, he’s a lieutenant, so he gets the job of being in command at times.”
SHFAD Employee of the Year
Josh Starha
SHFAD Battalion Chief Randy Whitfield recalled coaching Starha when he was in the eighth grade.
He coached a lot of guys in the eighth grade, Whitfield said. Specifically, he recalled one boy getting beaten up. Whitfield told his team members they should stick up for kids in that situation and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Later, Whitfield said, a woman approached him at practice angry, because her boy had been beaten up. He asked his team members about it, noting that he did not tell his team to beat that kid up.
It turned out to be a kid who wanted “to make the world right,” Whitfield said. “And he’s been doing it ever since.”
Starha is a hard worker and a gifted mechanic, who helps Whitfield maintain the SHFAD fleet every day, Whitfield said. “He doesn’t quit.”
Whitfield recalled Starha waking up and responding to a call at Cascade at 5:30 a.m. Starha transported a patient to the hospital. When he returned, instead of going back to sleep, he went straight to work fixing one of the department’s vehicles.
“I’m proud to work with him,” Whitfield said. “He’s a great medic and a great firefighter.”
Dispatcher of the Year Katie Lyon
“Katie Lyon is my go-to person – all of them – but she’s not afraid to give honest feedback and hoold me accountable,” said SHPD Communications Cmdr. Penny Leland.
Christina Gallo,
SHFAD Citizen Appreciation Award
“If you want to be the best, you must be the best among uncommon people,” said SHFAD Battalion Chief Eli Harris. “Uncommon people fight and sweat to be the best they can be. A few percent push themselves to be the best.”
That’s something first responders do, Harris said, but “tonight we want to recognize someone in our community that we see as uncommon.”
He presented an Citizens Appreciation Recognition Certificate to Gallo for her direct involvement with the evacuation and suppression of a fatal structure fire while waiting for fire crews to respond.
At 4:27 a.m. on June 5, police officers and firefighters responded to a structure fire on Fir Court, part of Wiley Creek Community. They found a single-story quad-plex with heavy interior flames and smoke damage in the south residence.
The fire was eventually extinguished, Harris said. Three adjoining units were cleared of smoke with no flame or heat damage.
Gallo had been sleeping that morning at her residence a few blocks away, Harris said. At about 4 a.m., she thought she could smell something burning through her open window. She went to investigate and saw heavy black smoke and flames at the quad-plex.
“She attempted to wake anyone inside by yelling and knocking, but the windows were blackened by smoke as she called 9-1-1,” Harris said. “She then took a garden hose and sprayer lying in the backyard and began to extinguish the exterior flames as best she could, preventing the fire from going into the attic space and through the complex.”
Once fire crews and police arrived, Gallo went to the remaining residences and began waking the occupants and assisting them to safety, Harris said. “Because of Christine’s clear thinking and quick actions, the fire was contained to the residence that it started in and the homes and lives of the people living in the other units were spared.”
Jason Van Eck,
SHPD Life Saving Award
At 5:07 p.m. on April 4, a mother entered the lobby of the Police Department to report that her son was in her car and he was turning blue, said Police Officer Sean Potter in presenting the Life Saving Award. Van Eck and Officer David Hickcox ran outside to the vehicle and located a teenage male in the passenger seat.
The juvenile had a pulse but wasn’t breathing, and Van Eck, a former firefighter, was unsuccessful in attempts to get a response from the boy, Potter said. Hickcox retrieved Narcan from his vehicle while Van Eck attempted to open the boy’s airway. The boy still wasn’t breathing.
Van Eck administered the Narcan and began giving rescue breaths to the juvenile, continuing until medics arrived, Potter said.
“The juvenile finally began breathing on his own. Several of the first responders present at the scene credited Sgt. Van Eck with saving the life of the teenager, even after the teen demonstrated an extreme indifference and disdain toward him.
“Sgt. Van Eck’s actions and dedication to duty during his event are in keeping with the highest standards of law enforcement. This incident is one of many in which Sgt. Van Eck has demonstrated that he is a credit to the Sweet Home Police Department as well as the community at large.”
Doug Shank, SHFAD
Keith Gabriel Humanitarian Award
Fire Chief Dave Barringer described how the late Keith Gabriel dedicated his life to his fire department and to his community.
“He lived on (with) his community service, his ability to help children, to help the community,” Barringer said. The award named in his memory is not given every year, but this year, the SHFAD officers voted unanimously that it needed to happen this year and that it should go to Shank.
His work with the Forest Service was critical to installing new communications equipment on the east end of the district to improve communications to places like Blue Pool, the chief said.
Shank helped establish the rescue squad, Barringer said. He gives constantly. He is a strong church member. He takes care of some of the same things Gabriel did, including the department’s garden plot, – “almost like Keith Gabriel’s twin.”
SHFAD Rookie of the Year
Coury Gagne
Gagne started in July, Harris said. He was not just eager.
“He was someone who obviously loves this job with a passion that cannot be bought,” Harris said.
SHFAD Medic of the Year
Tanner Funk
Funk was among the top three medics transporting patients to the hospital last year, said SHFAD Battalion Chief Shannon Pettner. “He comes to work with a very good attitude every day.”
He has the respect of the patients and “gets along with all of his coworkers, all of them,” Pettner said.
SHFAD Officer of the Year
Jeff Mather
Mather has been with the fire department for more than 30 years, said Assistant Chief Doug Emmert. He was a firefighter at Tualatin Valley for 25 years. He retired and has been around SHFAD a lot since then.
He was instrumental installing pumps in creeks to provide rural water sources for water tenders, Emmert said.
Keenan Martin, SHPD Firearms and Defensive Tactics Award
Hickcox said that officers spend countless hours training, and quite a few officers stand out.
But what comes to mind for the Firearms and Defensive Tactics Award is an officer who has an outstanding ability with marksmanship and safe weapons handling with all weapons used by the SHPD, Hickcox said in presenting the award to Martin.
Tammy Arnold,
SHFAD Volunteer of the Year
Police Chief Jeff Lynn presented the award to Arnold, who stepped in last year to ensure that children’s programs would continue without a hitch while the department’s community services officer was off work for an extended period.
Freddy Bratton, Volunteer
Recognition Certificate
Lynn presented a certificate of special recognition to Bratton.
Bratton was a member of the Sunshine Industries crew that cleans the department’s building each week, Lynn said. He wondered how to become a volunteer and asked then-Community Services Officer Gina Riley.
“She said, apply,” Lynn said. “Freddy did.”
He’s become instrumental in how our department functions at events, including the Jim Bean Public Safety Fair, the Health Fair, the Canine Jamboree and any other event involving the department.
“We’re really proud of Freddy and the service he’s provided to our department,” Lynn said. “He’s been there for us.”
Kevin Greene,
Certificate of Recognition
Officers know the tolls that their jobs can take on their families, Hickcox said in presenting the certificate to Greene. The retired Linn County deputy spends his time volunteering to help officers maintain their mental and emotional health.
Greene is dedicated to the community, responding with officers and serving local citizens when they are in need, Hickcox said.
Years of Service
Barringer recognized four individuals for their years of service: volunteer Mike Carpenter with five years; administrative assistant Julie Mayfield, five; Harris, 15; and volunteer Kevin Pettner, 20 years.
Special Presentation
Volunteer firefighter John Marble presented a special award in the spirit of good-natured teasing to Shannon Pettner for inventing a new way to roll hoses.
He noted that innovation is a key part of the fire service, Marble said. He noted how few remember riding to fires on a tailboard or those who remember running into a burning building with a booster line.
The technology has evolved constantly. Last year, Pettner took rolling hoses to a new level by using “the friction between the hose and black rubber” to wind a hose using the throttle in the fire engine.
Using a fire engine modeled on a giant piece of plywood, Marble demonstrated how it works, how the more throttle applied, the faster the hose can coil up on a wheel.
“After this demonstration in the field,” Marble said. “Shannon looked at me and told me, ‘Don’t you ever say a word about this.'”
So he did Friday night.