Community Corner
Cheshire Firefighter Of The Year Announced
Officials have announced the recipient of the 48th William Grove Firefighter of the Year award in Cheshire.
CHESHIRE, CT — Cheshire Fire Lt. Matthew Schmidt has been selected as the department’s William Grove Firefighter of the Year for 2024, officials announced Thursday.
This is the 48th year of the prestigious award, which is given out by the Cheshire Rotary.
The Grove Award is named in honor of William “Willie” Grove II, the only Cheshire firefighter who died in the line of duty.
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“Willie was an active member of the Department and the Grove family was a significant presence in the Cheshire Fire Department,” officials wrote in a post on the Cheshire Fire Department’s Facebook page. “Willie was known for his dedication, integrity, being a good firefighter, a friend at the fire house or if you needed a hand at home.
“The first recipient, deceased Life Member Bill Dunn, received the Grove award in 1976 and the Rotary Club in partnership with the Cheshire Fire Department have since maintained this long-standing relationship because of the traditional and sentimental value that is associated with the award.”
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The full list of Grove Award recipients is below:
1976 Bill Dunn
1977 Ernie Hallbach
1978 Moe Rosello
1979 Ed Gaudio
1980 Andrew Malloy
1981 Douglas French
1982 John Bates
1983 Louis Hotchkiss
1984 Wilbur Verner
1985 Pat Rubbo
1986 Peter Gode
1987 Charles DeLavernge
1988 Tim Pelton
1989 Matt McCarthy
1990 Chris Bowman
1991 Mike Roke
1992 Steve Williams
1993 Tom Trevethan
1994 Mark Adkins
1995 Donn Youngquist
1996 James Doherty
1997 Jedd Spero
1998 William Herzman
1999 Jack Casner
2000 Carl Behrmann
2001 Mike Kozlowski
2002 Rich Pruitt
2003 Jay Hershman Esq.
2004 Craig Henderson
2005 Bob Shalagan
2006 Jeff Boland
2007 Jon Graziosa
2008 Rick Trocchi
2009 Doug Yocher
2010 Jeff Tellmann
2011 Nicholas Kehoss
2012 George Donnarumma
2013 Daniel Ford
2014 Award not Presented
2015 Owen Fowler
2016 Kevin Brumlevee
2017 Brian Owen
2018 Dennis Pechmann
2019 Chris Corso
2020 Not presented due to COVID
2021 Bryan Keene
2022 Griffin Stover
2023 James Schlauder
2024 Matthew Schmidt
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