Three long serving CFA members were recently presented with CFA Life Membership at the District 5 Headquarters Brigade Awards Evening at Penshurst.
The awards were presented by District 5 Operation Manager Richard Bourke.
They are Peter Waldron from Hamilton and Gerard Monro and Daryl Love from Warrnambool.
Peter Waldron has officially been a member of the CFA since 1960. But like many children who grew up on a farm, Peter was out fighting fires long before he was old enough to be officially enrolled as a member.
Peter was a registered member of the Melville Forest Brigade for 46 years from September 1960 until November 2006
Peter spent many years as a Melville Forest Lieutenant and then nearly nine years as their Captain, from December 1977 till June 1986.
Following his time as Melville Forest Captain, Peter spent two years as a Balmoral Deputy Group Officer and then 10 years as the Balmoral Group Officer from September 1988 until June 1998
Peter and his wife Julie moved to Hamilton in 2005 and shortly thereafter Peter joined the District 5 Headquarters Brigade. Peter was the Secretary Treasurer from 2012 till 2016 and is currently the brigade Health and Safety Officer
Daryl Love AFSM joined the Nhill Fire Brigade as a volunteer in 1966 and just under 3 years later commenced a 47 year career with the CFA. He has served as a firefighter and station officer at Dandenong, Geelong and Warrnambool. Daryl was an instructor at Fiskville from 1979 until 1983, then back to Warrnambool Fire Station from 1983 till 2001 as the officer in charge.
Daryl's next role was training the next generation of firefighters from 2001 until he retired in 2012, after which he joined the Headquarters Brigade and served as its 1st Lieutenant from 2012 till 2016.
Daryl was awarded the National Medal awarded in 1981, Australian Fire Service medal in 2006 and the National Emergency Medal for the 2009 Bushfires.
Gerard Monro joined the Kangaroo Flat brigade as a volunteer in 1964 and was the brigades 1st Lieutenant from 1975 to 1979. During his time at Kangaroo Flat Gerard was an active member of the brigade running team and reportedly a champion ladder man.
Over the next 27 years Gerard was a full time fire fighter. He spent the first two years at Springvale and most of the next 25 at Bendigo as a Leading Firefighter, apart for several visits to Portland over a six year period as the relieving the Firefighter. These stints varied from one or two weeks to three months at a time.
In 2006 Gerard moved to Warrnambool to become a District 4 and 5 Structural Instructor. A position he occupied until he retired in 2013. This involved conducting courses anywhere from Geelong to Mt Gambier. There are no doubt a great many firefighters across the south west region that have benefited from Gerard's knowledge and experience
Gerard has been a member of the Headquarters Brigade since 2013, including one term as 1st Lieutenant.
Gerard's awards include the National Medal awarded in 1984.
Eleven other members were also presented with awards. These were Greg Walcott (a VFBV Board member) for 50 years service, Anthony Love (25), Philip Myers (15), Barry Moran (15), Jo Mayne (15), Sean Mayne (15), Julie Adams (10), Hayden McKellar (10), Peter Kimpton (10), Chris Simpson (5) and Kevin Safe (5).