On Saturday, February 24, the Ridge Volunteer Fire Department and Auxiliary installed their 2024 Administrative and Operational Officers, and recognized several members for their contributions during 2023.

Joe Cooper, Past President of the Southern Maryland Volunteer Firemen’s Association, swore in the Administrative Officers, Board of Directors, Operational Officers, and Engineers. Becky Wathen, Past President of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Southern Maryland Volunteer’s Firemen’s Association and the Maryland State Firemen’s Association, swore in the Auxiliary Officers.

2024 Administrative Officers
President - Matt Ridgell
Vice President - Scot Best
Secretary - Bonnie Ridgell
Assistant Secretary - Carley Hadley
Treasurer - Johnny Wathen

2024 Board of Directors
Matt Ridgell
Scot Best
Bonnie Ridgell
Johnny Wathen
Brian Cooper
Philip "Heavy" Ridgell
Allen Raley
Francis Raley
Rob Dodge
John "Peanut" Gatton

2024 Operational Officers
Chief - Brian Cooper
Deputy Chief - Bradley Cooper
Captain 4 - Danny Gatton
Captain 4A - Allen Raley
Captain 4B - Jannet Keister
Lieutenant 4A - Scot Best
Lieutenant 4B - Rob Dodge
Lieutenant 4C - Charlie Russell
Lieutenant 4D – Jacob Keister
Health/Safety Officer 4 - Phil Cooper
Incident Safety Officer 4A - Tom Trossbach
Incident Safety Officer 4B - Philip "Heavy" Ridgell
Incident Safety Officer 4B - Francis Raley
Water Supply - Johnny Morrison
Chaplin - David Cullison
PIO/Fire Prevention – Scot Best
Chief Engineer - John "Peanut" Gatton
Engineer – Steve Bradburn
Engineer - Darius Hawkins
Engineer - Charlie Langley
Engineer - Johnny Morrison
Engineer - Keith Raley
Engineer - Tony Ridgell
Engineer - Robbie Wood

2024 Auxiliary Officers
President - Debbie Fairfax
Vice President - Jessica Snyder
Recording Secretary - Darlene Wood
Corresponding Secretary - Lisa Gibbs
Treasurer – Laura Cook

After the swearing in of the Officers and dinner, the awards ceremony followed with acknowledgement of members’ achievements. Congratulations to the following 2023 award recipients:

President's Award: Scot Best

Rookie of the Year: Ryan Caron

Engineer of the Year: Johnny Morrison

Joseph C. Titus Public Safety and Fire Prevention Award: Robb Bickel

Top 10 Responders (includes stand-by support):
1. Keith Raley (227 alarms)
2. Heavy Ridgell (222 alarms)
3. Francis Raley / Robbie Wood (185 alarms)
4. Scot Best (180 alarms)
5. Danny Gatton (172 alarms)
6. Tony Ridgell (171 alarms)
7. Ron Hafner (153 alarms)
8. John Keister (152 alarms)
9. Johnny Morrison (148 alarms)
10. Jimmy Cooper (131 alarms)

Top Apparatus Responders (rode apparatus to the incident):
1. Danny Gatton (139 alarms)
2. Keith Raley (129 alarms)
3. Francis Raley (117 alarms)
4. John Keister (110 alarms)
5. Scot Best (109 alarms)
6. Brian Cooper / Jacob Keister (89 alarms)
7. James Clark (87 alarms)
8. Bradley Cooper (82 alarms)
9. Jannet Keister (75 alarms)
10. Ron Hafner (73 alarms)

Life Membership (25 years): Charlie Bradburn

Length of Service Awards:
5 years: Jacob Keister, Leah Langford
10 years: Lori Raley
20 years: Joseph W. Raley, John Ridgell, Joshua Wise, Scot Best, Matthew Ridgell, George Franklin
25 years: Charlie Bradburn
30 Years: Brian Cooper, Stephen M. Gatton
35 Years: Johnny Wathen, Jr.
40 Years: Leo (LP) Mercure
60 Years: Phillip R. Cooper, Jr. Joseph H. Raley, Franklin (Dickie) Wood

Auxiliary Life Membership (20 years): Lisa Gibbs

Auxiliary Length of Service Award:
15 years: Lauren Wood
20 Years: Lisa Gibbs
25 Years: Renee Russell
35 Years: Margie Cooper / Kay Carter
40 Years: Mary (Snookie) Raley
50 Years: Joyce Ridgell

Auxiliary Service Member Award: Alex Pulliam

Auxiliary President Debbie Fairfax and Vice President Jessica Snyder presented the Department with several new tools and life-saving equipment for our membership. These items included: 10 Seek FirePRO 300 Personal Thermal Imaging (TI) Cameras (with retractable lanyards), First Responder Door Stops (one for each member), Firewipes On-Scene Firefighter Skin Decontamination Wipes (boxes for each unit), 200 Nomex hoods (enough to provide a second hood for each member), six Lifepak 1000 AEDs, and 20 New York Hooks of varying sizes. Additionally, they have allocated $4,000 to go towards the future purchase of new duty uniforms for our members. In total, the Auxiliary provided $39,215 worth of items!

Recognition plaques were given to the members of three Apparatus Committees:
- New Boat 4: Chair John (Peanut) Gatton, Tony Ridgell, Tyler Gatton, Chris Bender, Steve Gatton, Brian Cooper, John Keister, Ron Hafner, Francis Raley. Special presentation to State Delegate Brian Crosby for his assistance in securing grant funds.
- Command 4: Chair Brian Cooper, John Morrison, Tony Ridgell, Ron Hafner, John Keister, Phil Cooper
- UTV 4: Chair Bradley Cooper, Allen Raley, Scot Best, Joey Purcell, Matt Ridgell

The Officers and members of the Ridge VFD and Auxiliary would like to thank our Master of Ceremonies, Former St. Mary's County Commissioner Dan Raley for the laughs, Rita B Catering for the amazing food, DJ Wild Wes for the great tunes, and Mary Franklin (Moonlight Ridge Photography) for the great pictures. A special thanks to the members of Second District Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad for covering our area during the installation and awards banquet.