By Katina Caraganis
The Lowell Sun
TOWNSEND, Mass. — Many say it takes a certain type of person to be a firefighter.
For the Townsend Fire-EMS Department, they recently saw four men hang up their gear in retirement after a combined 116 years of experience. Their dedication and hard work was honored Saturday night at Townsend Ridge Country Club.
“It takes something special to not only say, ‘OK, I’ll do it,’ but to actually do it,” said Lt. Bill Elliott on Saturday. “It takes a lot of dedication. It takes a huge commitment. It takes an unselfish amount of time that you have to put into this, not only for training but for everything. You leave your house as birthday candles are being blown out. You leave your house as Christmas presents are being unwrapped. It doesn’t matter. When a tone goes off, you leave.”
And for the four retirees, they had what it took to work for the department.
James Misner was a member of the department for 47 years, retiring as a captain. At 75, he works as a custodian at North Middlesex Regional High School. While his age may have gotten in the way of running into burning buildings, he says he has no plans to retire from his other job yet.
Misner grew up around the firehouse as a child because his father was a member of the department for 46 years. Misner was Firefighter of the Year in 2009 and said his fondest memory was bringing in the community for breakfasts they used to hold on Sundays.
His daughter, Mary Plamondon, was at the party and has her own memories of her father’s time in the department.
“You could tell when he would go out for a call,” Plamondon said. “The alarms would go and you better not be in his way because he would run you over. You knew when he was home, even if you were in bed, because you could smell the smoke. You knew he was home safely.”
Like Misner, the sense of community and family tradition is what drove other retirees to join the department.
Kenny Amadon, who has 27 years under his belt, said the call to serve ran in his family. His father, uncles and brothers were all firefighters. After joining the department at 18, he still remembers those early years when the tone would go off.
“I’ve been on since I was 18,” Amadon said. “The alarm would come in the middle of the night and it would be my father and my three brothers getting up to go to the call. We’d all be piling into the vehicle and make our way to the fire station. I have a lot of good memories. I enjoyed fighting fires and everything the fire department has to offer. It was fun working with the guys and giving back to the community.”
While he still lives in town, he said that it’s gotten harder to devote as much time, which is what drove him to retire.
“As you get older, a lot of things change,” Amadon said. “I felt that it was time for retirement. I’m going to miss it. My life gets busier now. I feel like I don’t have a lot of extra time to devote to the town.”
Lt. Vinny Shertzer began his career in 1986 on the EMS side but found his true calling two years later on the firefighting side. After 22 years in the department, his life has taken him to Chelmsford, where he now lives, and could no longer be a call member of the department. While nobody in his family was in the line of work, a sense of community drew him to the profession.
“I just did it,” he said. “It’s not in my bloodline. It’s not any of that. It’s just helping my community, my fellow neighbors. It was an important thing that I did that I really enjoyed. My fondest memory? The guys on the department. We’ve very close. I’m very proud to be a member of the Townsend Fire Department. I really am.”
David Webb also moved away from town and was unable to attend Saturday’s ceremony. But he wasn’t forgotten.
“He comes from a firefighting family,” said Chief Don Klein. “His father was a captain on the center company and Dave has been a great asset to the department. Unfortunately, life changes and he had to move on.”
Webb’s father was in the department as well, and many people were looking forward to the father-son relationship in the firehouse.
“His father was a huge part of the fire department,” said Elliott.
“He died in 1985 when Dave was small. That was one of those father-son relationships you wanted to see on the department but it never happened. Dave is a go-getter. Right from day one, he didn’t need to be taught anything. He knew what he was doing. He watched his father. He was a good teacher. People’s fathers are the best teachers. He’s a great guy.”
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