Twin Valley Fire Department gathered at the French Creek Golf Club for the 7th Annual Member Appreciation Banquet April 19. With the lively bunch all in one room, the night was filled with a sense of honor, community and family.
Among the various honors and awards given after the buffet dinner, Tom Hornberger was officially recognized as the new Fire Chief of the Twin Valley Fire Department, which he was elected into at the first meeting in January. Hornberger originally served as Fire Chief of Morgantown’s Friendship Fire Company for 11 years. Now he takes back the position after Keith Romig, four-year Twin Valley Fire Chief and now Assistant Fire Chief stepped down for personal reasons.
‘I never left, I was always active,’ Hornberger says about his break from the honored and demanding position. ‘And now I’ve come right back up the cycle,’ he mentioned as he talked about moving up from Assistant Fire Chief, to Deputy Fire Chief, right back into Fire Chief.
After a moment of silence for late members Lou Salemno, Jake Ewing and Harry Strock the start of the ceremony, Romig was awarded a citation from the Senate for his 28 years of outstanding service to the fire service community by State Senator Judith Schwank. Along with that honor, Representatives Mark Gillen and Tim Hennessey awarded Romig with their own citation paying tribute to his many years of loyalty and commitment to the Twin Valley community.
Once those officials had their time at the microphone, the Twin Valley Fire Department handed out their own awards to some well deserving members. This included Outstanding Service Awards to Bruce Belgarde and Jessica Leisely, Firefighter of the Year Award to Joe Carmen, Fire Police of the Year Award to William Bailey, Junior Firefighter of the Year Award to Jonathan Porter, and the Official Fire Police Badge of Authority presented to Jeff Amber-Messick.
The Twin Valley Fire Department is a merger department made up of what used to be Morgantown’s Friendship Fire Company and Elverson Fire Company. After years of working out the department merge and receiving a donation of land for the new station from the Twin Valley School Board, Station 69 officially came into service on Jan. 9, 2007 and served its first call the day after. Check out more information about the history and archived events at their website, www.tvfd69.com.