On Friday May 18th the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department and the Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad held their annual banquet at the Red Fox restaurant in Saranac Lake. The banquet is a time for us to reflect on the accomplishments and challenges of the past year. It is a time for us to say thank you not only to our members, but, it is also a time for us to honor our families who give so much by supporting us while we are away conducting our volunteer duties.

The clear highlight of this year's banquet was the establishment of a new "Challenge Coin" tradition. "Challenge Coins" have a rich military tradition that dates back to World War 1 when a young Airman's life was spared when he escaped as a POW from the Germans and fled to French Allies. The young Airman was only able to prove his identity to the French via his sole possession. A coin containing his unit insignia!!!

As a result of that incident it later became a tradition that all the Airmen carry a copy of their unit coin. To ensure that all unit members were in fact carrying their coins the practice of "Challenging" was introduced. A "challenge" is conducted as follows; when any member of the unit shows their coin (usually by slapping on a table or a bar) all of the other unit members must produce their coin. Any member not producing a coin must buy the next round. In contrast if all members successfully produce a coin the person who initiated the challenge buys. This tradition has widely spread through military units of all branches and has become popular in law enforcement and firefighting agencies.

The SLVFD is a fiercely proud organization and the possession of these coins is meant to be a symbol of the strong fraternal bond experienced by our membership. In the SLVFD's tradition members with 2 or more years of service in good standing are awarded a silver trimmed coin. Honor Roll members receive a gold trimmed coin. It is considered an honor to be "coined". Members are urged to carry them at all times with pride and in recognition of our strong fraternal bond!!! "Challenge" rules are in effect.

A presentation at this year's banquet officially established our "Challenge Coin" tradition. Honor Roll Members were called to the front to receive their gold coins and Officers distributed silver coins to eligible members standing in the audience. The entire roll of eligible members was read. Only once the coins were distributed to all the members present were the sealed envelopes opened revealing our distinctive coins.

The banquet is also a time for us to recognize our members who go above and beyond and are deserving of special recognition. The link to the left entitled "Honors and Awards" will allow you to view the special meaning of our awards and we encourage you to take a look as you take the time to congratulate this year's award recipients.

The Chiefs Award:
Presented to Second Assistant Chief James Stinson in recognition for his deep dedication to the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department. Jim was selected to receive the 2012 Chief's award for his dedication, his exemplary efforts as a mentor and for the development, implementation and continued work on the SLVFD website. Jim was instrumental in establishing and setting up the web site. Since its implementation the website has served as an invaluable resource for our members and for the community. Thanks to Jim's efforts the SLVFD website became a clearing house of information and great resource during the spring floods of 2011. Throughout the floods SLVFD was able to utilize the website to provide important information regarding road closures, emergency shelters, carbon monoxide safety, emergency contact information and so much more. None of us ever imagined our website would play such an important role in our community. Congratulations Second Assistant Chief James Stinson on a job well done.

Top 5 awards for those who responded to the most fire calls:
1. Brendan Keough
2. Ken McLaughlin
3. Casey Taylor
4. Jim Stinson
5. Ryan Hathaway

Top 5 awards for those who responded to the most rescue calls:
1. Julie Harjung
2. Ryan Hathaway
3. Bill Madden
4. Tim Donaldson
5. Jeff White

Service Awards:
15 Years: Casey Taylor
15 Years: Jim Stinson
5 Years: William Madden
5 Years: Craig Barry

Congratulations to our award recipients and thank you to the volunteers who serve this great department in this great community.

Special thanks to the Lake Pacid Volunteer Ambulance for providing coverage during the banquet, the banquet committee of Mary Brown, Diane Tkach, Julie Harjung, Chuck Dobson, and Casey Taylor, the Red Fox for providing an excellent meal. Thank you to Jim Stinson, Eva Stinson, Julie Harjung, Chuck Dobson, Jeff White and all those who contributed to this years slide show.

Click Here to Watch This Year's Slide Show: http://www.saranaclakefire.com/content/videos/2012banquet.cfm