At the recent Back Creek Rural Fire Brigade AGM, 3 of its members received 50-year service medals.
Mr Lindsey Butt, Mr Cecil Burgess and Mr Pat Hallam were congratulated and awarded the medals in recognition of their outstanding commitment to the local community, in particular the Back Creek Brigade situated between Murrumbateman and Gundaroo.
Lindsey Butt had previously begun his service with the RFS with Gundaroo in 1964 and became the Back Creek Brigade inaugural Captain in 1978 when the brigade formed. He was the Captain for 11 years and since then had been a Deputy until 2019 when he stepped aside to “allow other younger members take up deputy positions”.
Pat Hallam was the initial Senior Deputy; Pat took up the role coming from Sutton, where he began his service in 1970. He assumed the Captaincy from Lindsey in 1989 and stepped down some 17 years later in 2006.
Cecil Burgess had Senior Deputy and Deputy Roles with Bowning and Gundaroo from 1967, joining Back Creek in 1992 as Senior Deputy, where he held that position until 2019; Mr Burgess still holds a current deputy spot to date.
When presenting the medals, Southern Tablelands District Manager Mr George Shepherd said these 3 gentlemen are great examples of “commitment to community” and the RFS takes “great pride” in recognising this commitment. Also commenting on the achievement was the brigade’s current Captain Ben Haseler who said, “the brigade is as strong as it is today because of the leadership and dedication these three outstanding volunteers have shown”.
The three remain active firefighters and contributors to Back Creek and were humbled to be recognised; however, they all commented that it’s “just what you do in a small rural community, you help out”.
