Rotary honors first responders

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Bill Bertolet, in the blue shirt, presents Mel Drukin with a plaque in recognition of Drukin's years of administering The Concordville-Chadds Ford Rotary's Strive Scholarship program.

The Concordville-Chadds Ford Rotary honored its selections of Police Officer and Firefighter of the Year during its annual holiday lunch on Dec. 17. The group also recognized two of its own.

Det. Sgt. Ben Ash, of the Bethel Township Police Department, is the 2014 Police Officer of the Year. Firefighter of the Year is James Pierce, a volunteer with the Bethel Fire Co.

A firefighter from Concordville Fire Co. — Paul Hummel — was also scheduled for an award, but he didn’t attend the lunch meeting.

In honoring Pierce, the Rotary’s Dominic Cappelli said the volunteer firefighter exemplified the Rotary motto of “Service over Self.”

“Thank God he’s young because, if he was old like me, he’d be dead,” Cappelli said of Pierce, 23. “He’s been a volunteer firefighter for two years, attended more than 200 hours of training, and responded to 150-plus alarms in the past year while being a full-time student at Delaware Technical College.”

Pierce also operates his own landscaping business and mentors the junior and cadet members of the fire company. In addition, Pierce is currently attending EMT classes at the Delaware County Emergency Services Training Center.

Sgt. Ash has been a first responder as both a police officer and a paramedic for more than 40 years, according to Bethel Township Police Chief Thomas Worrilow.

In Worrilow’s written statement — read by Rotarian Carol Swerdon —he said Bethel Township has “a high clearance rate for burglaries, thefts and criminal mischief all through the efforts of Det. Sgt. Ash.”

The club also recognized two Rotary members during the lunch.

Gil Tupper was given an honorary membership to the Concordville-Chadds Ford group. He’s retiring and moving to Florida.

Also honored was Mel Drukin. According to fellow Rotarian Bill Bertolet, Drukin spent 15 years administering the group’s Strive Scholarship Program. The scholarship is for seniors at Garnet Valley High School who have been at the bottom of the class, but who have made successful efforts to raise their grade-point average.

Cappelli said the program marked the first time the students in question received any recognition for their efforts to improve themselves academically.

In a light-hearted vein, Drukin, a former educator, gave Bertolet, also an educator, a booklet entitled “150 Ways to Show Kids You Care.”

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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