By Laura Kestner, Editor

FIREMAN OF THE YEAR. Heath Matteson, left, was honored as Fireman of the Year Monday night during the Firemen’s Appreciation Banquet hosted by the Womens’ Division Chamber of Commerce. Making the announcement and presentation was Chief Doyle Rone.

DeLeon Volunteer Fireman Heath Matteson was honored as Fireman of the Year Monday night, February 4, during the annual Fireman’s Appreciation Banquet, hosted by the Womens’ Division DeLeon Chamber of Commerce at the Reunion Center.

Ruby Parks, on behalf of the Womens’ Division, presented Chief Doyle Rone a $500 donation for the department during the evenings festivities.

Chief Rone made the Fireman of the Year announcement after the firemen had dined on a meal of ham, beans, cole slaw, potato salad and rolls and a selection of homemade desserts provided by the Womens’ Division members.

Chief Rone began his remarks by thanking the women for the wonderful meal.

“This has been a tradition for as long as I can remember,” Rone said, “and we look forward to it every year.”

Rone then commented briefly on what the firefighters had experienced in the past week, being paged out many times, and especially the battle against the massive 1,400 acre Jakehammon wildfire. He noted that rookie firefighter Josh Smith had received a “baptism by fire.”

WOMENS’ DIVISION DONATION. Ruby Park, representing the Womens’ Division of the DeLeon Chamber of Commerce presented Chief Doyle Rone a check for $500 during the annual Firemen’s Appreciation Banquet Monday night.

“I’ve had a number of people say to us over this past week, ‘How did you lose a house?’ and it bothers me, because you fight real hard not to do that,” Rone said. “And then it occurred to me -- How did we save a house? I mean when we got on the scene, I hit that thing from (CR) 484 and went east a full mile and had nothing but fire.”

Rone described the difficult task firefighters faced in “holding” the fire “with that kind of wind and that kind of humidity.”

“To have lost a house is a terrible thing,” Rone said, “but they saved one heck of a lot of houses. And they (firefighters) all came home. They don’t always do that in some places, and not in this environment that we’re facing.”

Rone spoke of blackened faces, red eyes and exhausted firefighters.

“When Cloyd Teague, one of the safest firemen we’ve got, comes back with an injured truck with a fireman on top that’s scared, then he went through hell and back,” Teague said, “there’s no doubt in my mind.”

In addition to recognizing the Fireman of the Year, Rone mentioned that firefighter Brandon McDonald would be leaving the DeLeon Volunteer Fire Department due to his plans to move to Stephenville.

“I assure he’ll be missed,” Rone said, going on to describe McDonald’s superior EMS skills. Rone also mentioned his appreciation for Mark Nowlin’s handling of a “thankless” job -- that of reporting to the insurance companies. “In the time I’ve been here, he’s the only man, the only one, who’s ever taken this and run with it and done it,” Rone said. “What this does for us, is that this year we got a FEMA grant for $168,000. We got one for $36,000 back in about ‘04.”

He then mentioned that Cloyd Teague successfully got the department a grant for a brush truck. “I didn’t realize it was even possible until he did that,” Rone said. After speaking of several more grants, he added, “But without these aggravating reports that Mark Nowlin does, none of that would be possible.” Rone went on to comment that all the firefighters were “awesome.”

“If you don’t believe me,” he said, “then drive out there and look at what these guys went through (at Jakehammon) and what (the fire) came to a stop before it got to the City of DeLeon.”

Rone concluded his remarks by noting that by March or April of this year the DeLeon Volunteer Fire Department will have “a fleet of trucks which will be the strongest in Comanche County” while noting that contributions such as those from the Womens’ Division play an important part.

“The way we normally operate our budgets,” Rone said, “is the City keeps us going. And the money you guys give, we put it in a pot. We took that particular pot and wrote a check for $75,000 for that International truck we’re building today. We didn’t do that by ourselves by any stretch of the imagination.”

In addition to the firemen above, those attending the banquet, included Avery Carlisle, John Quade, Jackson Jobe, Cody Hodges, Jack Abbe, John Spencer, Dan Moss, Arthur Beck, Joe Burnett, and Matthew Iley.

Womens’ Division members who participated in the dinner included Ruby Park, Billie Lightfoot, Carla Landreth, Claudia Stevens, Elsa Pacheco, Nancy Ralston, Sharon Robinett, Bertha Moreno, Gloria Lopez, Betty Terrill and Merlene Day.