On Sunday afternoon, April 22nd, the Cutchogue Fire District, in conjunction with the United Fire Co. No. 1 of the Cutchogue Fire Department and the Cutchogue Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary held their annual installation of officers ceremony and awards dinner at Giorgio's caterers in Baiting Hollow. The dinner was attended by Fire Department and Ladies Auxiliary members as well as local dignitaries and invited guests.

The purpose of the evening was to officially swear in the newly elected Chief and Assistant Fire Chiefs, as well as honor our Volunteers for their service and dedication to the Cutchogue Fire Department and the community we serve. Several special awards were presented over the course of the evening.

Chief Lawrence Behr was re-installed into office as the Chief of Department, along with his assistants, First Assistant Chief Tom Shalvey Jr. and Second Assistant Chief Amos Meringer.

Under the direction of the Board of Fire Commissioners the oath of office was administered to the Chiefs by Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell.

This year CFD is honored to recognize 3 members that have reached significant milestones in their firefighting career.

Ex-Chief Matthew Martin was honored for celebrating his 60th year of active service.

Ex-Chief Fred Kaelin Jr. and Company Secretary Thomas Cybulski were honored for 50 years of service to our community.

All three were presented a plaque by the Chiefs as well as several proclamations presented on behalf of our local dignitaries. These items only serve as a small token of appreciation and thanks for their lifetime of service to the CFD.

In addition to the above longevity awards several special awards were presented to several members for service to the Department over the past year. The CFD is pleased to honor the following members:

2017 Firefighters of the Year – Firefighter John Hinton Sr.

2017 EMS Provider of the Year – Patrick Kaelin

2017 Probationary Member of the Year – Sean Robbins

Chiefs Awards for overall performance and participation: Lt. Joeseph Hinton, Lt. Chris Dinizio, James Burns, Kate Michalak, Patrick Kaelin, Capt. Ed Nicholson.

Chief Behr, also presented an unit award to Rescue Squad members, Paramedic Rich Hartmann, Ex-Chief/EMT Tom Martin and Stony Brook Paramedic Bruce Zummo were recognized for their actions that save the life of a stroke victim. The award was presented to the Department last month by the Peconic Bay Medical Center.

In what has become a tradition, the CFD band made a special appearance at the start of dinner, and played under the direction of their leader Tom Roslak.

The Commissioners of the Cutchogue Fire District, the Chiefs, Officer and Members of the Cutchogue Fire Department United Fire Co. No. 1, and the Cutchogue Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary would like to extend our congratulations and thanks to all of the night's honorees and award winners.

Thank you to our fellow brothers and sisters of the Mattituck Fire Department who allowed our members to attend and enjoy this special evening. MFD provided an engine and ambulance crew to handle any calls in our District for the evening.

An enjoyable evening was had by all.

More pictures will be added as they become available.

Thank you to Ex-Chief Matt Martin for providing many of the pictures.