BANQUET AWARDS BEST IN MEMBERS


By Melissa Murdza
HV staff

The Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department's banquet at the Holiday Inn Calverton proved to be fun for all who attended.

Each year the department holds the event to honor and celebrate its accomplishments over the past year. It is also the starting point for a new year of exciting projects and goals.

There were a couple of differences between this year's banquet and those of years' past. For example, it was not at Martin's Crosswinds in Greenbelt as it has been for the last four years.

"We wanted to try and save money, so we tried somewhere different," banquet committee member Kathleen Hasenpusch said. "We also looked at the Marriott in Greenbelt and Martin's," but the committee chose what they thought was best.

Using the Holiday Inn was sealed after committee members went to a taste-testing, sampled the dinners and saw the large dessert selection. "We couldn't cut the desserts," Hasenpusch said.

There was an awards ceremony after dinner, where winning volunteers were honored. One of the awards goes to the Firefighter of the Year, an honor which is decided by the chief and bestowed upon the firefighter who has shown exemplary service to the department, Hasenpusch said.

This year the HVFD contributed $25,000 to the Carlie Hogarth fund to help the 16-month-old's family afford a life-saving liver transplant. Carlie's father gave a touching speech thanking the department for its efforts.

Following the awards ceremony and speakers, the deejay provided music for an evening of dancing.

The other main difference this year was the annual door prize. Couples and singles alike went home with their pictures on HVFD key chains.

"That was a surprise by the president. Every year we give out a trinket to all who attend, we try to give out something different every year. It wasn't known - even by the banquet committee - until the night of the banquet what the prize was going to be," Hasenpusch said.

The company providing the key chains was also offering the opportunity for banquet attendees to have a portrait photograph.

Another door prize was the three model fire apparatus on each table. Each table had tickets under three chairs, those were the winning tickets to take home the models.

1996 AWARD WINNERS:

Firefighter of the Year
Tom Falcone

EMS Member of the Year
Traci Bangor

Rookie of the Year
Mark Murphy

Most Improved Member
Matt Verdin

Fire Chief's Award
Herb Hasenpusch and Tim Lorenzano

President's Award
Kathleen Hasenpusch and Jeff Werth

Member of the Year
Jeff Werth

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Updated 5/4/96