My Account
By a Leigh correspondent
Leigh Volunteer Fire Brigade members gathered for a long-overdue honours night recently after numerous postponements due to Covid.
A great evening was had by all who attended, with a good feed and an equally good band.
The evening’s awards began with the presentation of a Fire and Emergency New Zealand 14-Year Long Service and good Conduct Medal to Alan Borich. The award was made by recently-appointed Waitemata Area general manager Katie Pocock.
This was followed by United Fire Brigade Association (UFBA) awards presented by Ian Davies. Ian began his fire career at Leigh and then moved to the Warkworth brigade where be became chief fire officer. He was the UFBA representative.
Three-year certificates were presented to Gideon Dolan, Mark Brockie and Brook Sanderson. Brook was then presented with his five-year medal along with Paul Smith.
Carmel Simmonds, Mark Simmonds and Dave Johnson received a silver bar for nine-year service. Errol Murray and Martin Lefley received their 13-year bars.
Chief fire officer Kevin Lawton and Tony Enderby were presented with 17-year bars. Nick Torkington received his 23-year bar, Mark Borich received his 27-year bar and Steve Paddison was presented with a 47-year bar. The Warren Cup for outstanding service to the brigade was awarded to Martha Stafford, who is soon to leave the brigade to take up work in Nelson.
The awards ceremony was followed by a great supper, thanks to Bramble, Viet Q and New World. A fantastic team from the Leigh Library kept the full plates and glasses coming and the empty ones going all night. Thanks also to the brigade social committee who organised the event. The latter part of the evening was aided by great music from the band Boom Boom Delux.
The brigade has had a disjointed few years with Covid seriously curtailing training and causing a drop in callout numbers. This year, to date, the brigade has been called to more than 90 emergencies. The erratic callout pattern saw two periods of 30 days or more when no callouts were received. However, no matter what the new normal is, the team from Leigh Volunteer Fire Brigade will be there to support their community.
