{"id":120468,"date":"2022-06-20T12:05:10","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T16:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=120468"},"modified":"2022-06-23T12:35:17","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T16:35:17","slug":"canastota-volunteer-recognition-program-winds-up-successful-42-year-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=120468","title":{"rendered":"Canastota Volunteer Recognition Program winds up successful 42-year run"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Canastota Volunteer Fire Department receives its check from Canastota Area Association of Churches Officers the Rev. Thomas Burgess, CAAC Grant Chairman Scott Trefz, Chief Tony \u2018T.J.\u2019 Tornatore, Assistant Chief Lyle Chafee and Lanita Wilson. (Photo courtesy Angelique Wilson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Lincoln Volunteer Fire Department receives its check from Canastota Area Association of Churches officers Fireman Matt Marshall, Fire Department Vice President Tyler Quinn, the Rev. Thomas Burgess, CAAC Grant Chairman Scott Trefz, Assistant Chief Dan Lozipone, firefighter Chris Beaulac and Lanita Wilson. (Photo courtesy Angelique Wilson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Wampsville Volunteer Fire Department receives its check from Canastota Area Association of Churches officers Ryan Hall, Teresa Meeker, the Rev. Thomas Burgess, Grant Chairman Scott Trefz, Chief Monte Colucci and Lanita Wilson. (Photo courtesy Angelique Wilson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For more than a generation, the Canastota Area Association of Churches sustained programs that honored and supported the work of Canastota\u2019s four volunteer first-responder corps: the Canastota, Lincoln and Wampsville volunteer fire departments, and the Greater Lenox Ambulance Service. For 35 years, that support took the form of a publicly supported recognition dinner that was a much-anticipated event each winter, hosting more than 300 attendees annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Money raised allowed the fire and rescue volunteers and their spouses to attend at no charge. Legislative citations were also awarded to one outstanding volunteer from each corps every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the interest for such events began to wane, the CAAC Board voted to convert the dedicated fund of monies raised for future dinners, and combine it with annual appeal proceeds to award as equal grants to those four volunteer organizations. The funds were awarded with no strings or directives, freeing each corps to use the money for whatever urgent need they most desired. Annual grants ranged from $750 the first years to more than $2,000 each in this final year of the program. Over the years, the volunteer first-responders were able to equip vehicles and firehouses, as well as pay for training and defibrillators around the community \u2013 all things that would have waited for funding or gone undone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, the burden of organizing and promoting the programs was falling on fewer people, in much the same fashion as the strain the volunteer first-responder corps themselves experience here and across the nation. With no replacement coordinators available, this seventh grant program will be the last such event run by the Association of Churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter five years organizing dinners and the past seven coordinating the grants, Anita Thibado, our treasurer, and I need to retire and turn our attention to other things,\u201d said Grant Chairman Scott Trefz. \u201cWe have been happy to do it these past 12 years, and cherish the honor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trefz was on hand with CAAC Board member Pastor Tom Burgess at Greater Lenox Ambulance Service\u2019s 50th anniversary gala May 20, 2022, presenting GLAS President Alex Brown with their final grant check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burgess is the son of GLAS Co-founder, the Rev. Robert Burgess, and was especially delighted to see so much come full circle that evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, May 21, 2022, Trefz and Burgess were at Hope Christian Fellowship in Canastota with CAAC Board member Lanita Wilson to enjoy one last luncheon with chiefs and other representatives of the three fire departments, and present them with their last grant checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s bittersweet saying goodbye to these programs, to say the least,\u201d Trefz said, \u201cand we hope that new leadership will step forward in the future to develop some new way to bless Canastota\u2019s invaluable fire and rescue volunteers. I certainly hope so, because they deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For more than a generation, the Canastota Area Association of Churches sustained programs that honored and supported the work of Canastota\u2019s four volunteer first-responder corps: the Canastota, Lincoln and Wampsville volunteer fire departments, and the Greater Lenox Ambulance Service. For 35 years, that support took the form of a publicly supported recognition dinner that was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/120469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}