ORANGE — Warwick Fire Chief Ron Gates wove his way through a crowd to leave the Athol-Orange Elks Lodge with one person after another approaching him for handshakes and congratulatory remarks.
The Warwick Fire Department had just been presented with the North Quabbin Community Coalition’s Salute to Service Award, the second ever given. Retired Athol Police Chief Timothy Anderson won in 2016.
North Quabbin Community Coalition Executive Director Heather Bialecki-Canning commended the department for its readiness to support other towns through mutual aid, also noting how its members raised money to build the station and then volunteered to help with its construction.
“Our support for Warwick Fire Department comes from our hearts and we can’t capture that in words,” Bialecki-Canning began her remarks at the Friday event. “They have just been a powerhouse in what it means to be a rural fire department.”
The members of the department who attended to accept the award did so humbly.
“We didn’t expect it, that’s for sure,” Gates said. “We’re just doing our job. We always pull together and do what we need to get done … We do it because we like it, not for the pay or the heroism.”
Other awards presented include: the Barbara Corey Award to Rebecca Bialecki; the Rural Health Hero Award to Tully Family Medicine; Spotlight Awards to Michael Quastello, Jennifer Sonnebend, Karen Buzzell, Craig Lundgren, Lenny O’Laughlin, Bill Burton and Jerry Whaland; Bridge Builder Awards to Peter Buck, Jennifer Avery, Ruben Mercado-Lugo, the Collins, Senak, Doane and Mitchell families, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office re-entry team; and Dr. Rebecca J. Bialecki Youth Leadership Awards to Yungjung Seo and Marley Aldrich.