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Veteran Warkworth volunteer fireman Gary Aitken and members of his family travelled to Wellington last month for the presentation of his Queen’s Service Medal for services to the fire service and the community.
He says the ceremony at Government House and celebratory Fire and Emergency NZ lunch afterwards was something he would never forget.
“We had an absolutely magical day, one we’ll remember for the rest of our lives,” he says. “The staff at Government House looked after us so well and were so friendly, we felt like we’d known them forever, and the Governor General was lovely.”
Gary has been a volunteer firefighter for 53 years, serving with the Opunake Volunteer Fire Brigade from 1966, and then Warkworth Volunteer Fire Brigade from 1970, where he rose to become Chief Fire Officer between 1999 and 2002.
He is currently a non-operational support officer – “which means I don’t have to turn out on calls” – and holds Life Memberships for both the Auckland Suburban and Districts Fire Brigade’s Sub-Associations, the Auckland Provincial Fire Brigades Association, Warkworth Volunteer Fire Brigade, and the Auckland Provincial Fire Brigades Gold Star Association.
In between fire brigade business, Gary works at Gubbs Motors and drives one of the school buses out to Snells Beach. He says his award in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours was a big surprise.
“I was working here at Gubbs one day and went home for lunch and my wife Madalene said there’s some mail for you,” he says. “But she knew what it was already – she’d known about it for 18 months or two years, but wasn’t allowed to tell anyone, even me!”
