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Father and Son Named Continental Village Firefighters of the Year
 | | Andrew Pepe (l) and Richard Pepe (r) were chosen as 2007 Firefighters of the Year by the CV Fire Department |
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At the December 2007 monthly meeting of the Continental Village Fire Department, two members of the CVFD were chosen to receive awards as Firefighter of the Year in two different categories. Andrew Pepe, 17, who attends Walter Panas High School in Cortland, was chosen as the Junior Firefighter of the Year. Junior Firefighter being anyone between the ages of 16 + 17. His father, Richard Pepe a retired Police Officer with the New York City Police Department and currently the Director of Security for the Port Chester School District in Westchester County was chosen as Firefighter of the Year.
"When I showed up at Friday's meeting the Chief took me off into a corner and asked me where my son was. I told him that he was at work. He works at Monteverdi Restaurant on Bear Mountain Bridge Road. He asked if I could make a call and get him down to the meeting as he was going to be getting an award. So I did just that. When he showed up at the meeting the Chief, Bill Rimm, first presented him with two training certificates. One for passing Firefighter I, and a second for Firefighter Survival. Just as he was walking away the Chief called him back and announced that he was getting the award for Junior Firefighter of the Year based on his work efforts during this past year. As a father it made me very proud to see him be awarded for all of his hard work. In the last year he went through all this training and he likes to spend lots of his free time down at the firehouse helping out. In fact the bug has bitten him so hard that he wants to attend Dutchess Community College next year to study Fire Science and to one day go on to be a Firefighter for the FDNY."
Then the real surprise came. Richard was called up to get his training certificates, which he knew about. He attended the same courses as Andrew did. "We sort of did the father - son bonding thing big time over the last year." Then as he sat down, the Chief started talking about who was getting the Firefighter of the Year award. "I didn't really pay too much attention as I thought it would be going to someone who made lots of calls. Although I have made my share, there are lots of people who have made more calls." Chief Rimm then went on to explain how this person attended lots of training this year, has started to come around the firehouse a lot more, and then stood up and filled in a vacant position on the Board of Officers. For his all around efforts he meets our definition of Firefighter of the Year. "With that he announced my name. To say I was shocked was an understatement."
"We both did a lot for the fire department this year. I have been a member for about 10 years now while Andrew just joined. I was always so busy at work and at home that I never was able to complete the lengthy training involved although I tried on many occasions. But when my son signed up I knew that I needed to make the time and to take the opportunity to go along with him. As he gets older the time we are going to be spending together is going to be less and less. So we did Firefighter I, Firefighter II, and Survival together all in the past few months."
"I was very proud to see Andrew receive this award. I am
just a little sad that he has to share the spotlight with his old dad. But I
guess that will be an argument best left for the dinner table at home."
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