Osoyoos Rotary honours first responders with awards gala

Members of the fire department, RCMP, Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue and local paramedics were honoured with a black-tie gala at Spirit Ridge on Jan. 30.

The Rotary Club put on the second annual event, including search and rescue personnel for the first time, to recognize exemplary service “and commitment to making Osoyoos a safe place to live and do business in,” said Rotary president Cheryle King.

The funds raised from the event went to the respective first responder organizations to assist in their crucial work.

The following recipients of the awards were chosen by their peers, including some background of their history of service in Osoyoos as read by King at the event:

Volunteer Paramedic of the Year: Dan Lyver

“As a Paramedic who serves his community and continues to serve, he has just received the long service award for 35 years of service. He has been married to his wife Ann Marrie for 37 years and he still has found time to serve as a Commissionaire for 23 years and an Auxiliary RCMP member for 12 years. He volunteers to drive the bus for the Legion and has also started and been the leader of the local stroke recovery group for the past eight years. There is literally no event this man does not step unselfishly forward to do for his community. Fellow paramedics, friends, and partners in public safety, say he is the epitome of a true volunteer who does it with compassion. Your passion of the job is clear at the station as you are always willing to volunteer your time to lend a helping hand or help mentor new paramedics. We couldn’t think of a more deserving recipient.”

Paramedic of the Year: Katrina Yorston

“This person has been a paramedic in the community for over two years starting in 2018 and has demonstrated clinical excellence above the practice of fellow paramedics with similar service.  She always shows an enthusiastic and positive attitude and has excelled in motivation and engagement in the station. She shows a willingness to step up and do anything to help is a testimony to the good nature and going above regular duties and has been honoured and recognized for key patient care and action by BCEHS with a Q-PIN award for the role in a challenging emergency call involving a drowning patient. (Yorston) Has made it a focus to enhance and improve practice clinically and professionally and has focused on educating and helping inform herself and others in the workplace in wellness, health and challenges.

Over and above professional duties and role, she has committed for the past two years to volunteering and providing services in support of the community, in events such as Canada Day, parades, schools, and community and public education such as overdose awareness and training.

We are very proud to have this person as an integral part of our station and profession and in particular on how they have come along both personally and as a Professional Paramedic and she is very deserving of this award.”

Volunteer Fire Person of the Year: Colin Lancaster

“This person has served the Town of Osoyoos as a volunteer firefighter for the last 38 years and is an extremely dedicated member of the Osoyoos Fire Department. Mr. Reliable, the guy you can definitely count on. He rarely takes time away from the town and makes the majority of practises throughout the year. Most importantly he attends a high percentage of our emergency calls. He is very selfless and always looks to go the extra mile, both for the public we serve and his fellow members. He has looked after the long service awards for OFD members, always ensuring the necessary paperwork is completed and the correspondence with both the federal and provincial offices that provide long service awards, such as For Garth Kunz who served as an OFD member for 50 years. He was instrumental in getting that service recognized and the award for Garth. When you go to the provincial website for the OFC, it now shows a 50 year service award, which was because of this person. There has been many changes at OFD in the past year and he has embraced them all, he has applied himself to the new NFPA 1001 training program and has passed the first two written exams with flying colours. We are extremely proud of him and we are very fortunate to have him on our Fire Department, he is well deserving of this award today and it means a great deal — as this recognition is from his peers. Congratulations!”

Firefighter of the Year: Deputy Chief Ryan McCaskill

“He received the most votes from his fellow volunteer members at Osoyoos Fire Rescue. he did not miss a single training night in 2019 making 50 out of 50 practises. He does not miss any emergency calls – in 2019 OFD received 236 incidents, attended/had input on all 236 incidents in 2019. When the 2019 Fire Master Plan was published, he stepped down as Volunteer Fire Chief when the town moved forward with the recommendation to hire a full-time career Fire Chief. He has served the Town of Osoyoos as volunteer Firefighter, Lieutenant, Fire Chief and presently Deputy Chief for the last 19 years. His level of commitment and dedication to the Osoyoos Fire Department is unprecedented. I do not state that lightly – he never leaves town. This selfless act speaks volumes about him embracing the changes and evolution of the Osoyoos Fire Department, always wanting the best for the Town of Osoyoos residents and his fellow volunteer members. This recognition from his peers is very much deserved, we are fortunate to have him on our department and he is an inspiration to us all.”

Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue Volunteer of the Year: Rob Selsing

“He has been viewed as the ‘team steward’ of Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue by all that know him. He has always taken care of the needs of the organization and members. The members of OOSAR  believe he is worthy of recognition at the First Responder Gala for the following reasons:

Innovation

He was instrumental in the acquisition of the current OOSAR hall and land at the Oliver Airport, when a new, larger location was badly needed for equipment storage and training. He forged many relationships with the Town of Oliver as well as other organizations and businesses to make this new hall a reality. Recently, he was also part of the team involved in the successful award of a $100,000 Capital Gaming Grant for a new Truck and Trailer Station.

Commitment

He has  been a volunteer member of OOSAR for over 20 years. He works outside of Oliver, leaving for work at 4 a.m. and often will go to a callout directly from work, which could last for 24 hours or more. He Is known as the ‘glue’ of the team. He is a role model that walks the talk.

Contribution

He has also been the president many times over the decades, as well as holding other board positions. In addition to his managerial skills, has also been a Ground Search and Rescue Instructor assisting in the training of new members, a Ground Search Team Leader, a Search Manager, and a Tracker. Being very community-minded, participates in almost every community event that the team is involved in Oliver and Osoyoos.

Perseverance

He has always been supportive of all team initiatives. Quite often he is in the background, quietly doing extra work to keep the team on track. Over his twenty-plus years in OOSAR, he has been a part of the many huge changes to Search and Rescue within the province to what is now known as a professional volunteer organization. Every step of the way, he ensured that OOSAR members kept focused and on task. Continues to work full-time, the only thing that has kept him away was a recent hip surgery … but even then, he still managed to come to a team meeting or two.”

Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue member of the year: Jim McConnell

“He is a cornerstone of OOSAR and as citizens, we are all very fortunate to have access to a Search and Rescue team that is led by one of the most experienced in the field for over two decades. The members of OOSAR believe he is worthy of recognition at the First Responder Gala for the following reasons:

Innovation

In the 1990s, he came to the South Okanagan and joined “Oliver SAR.” Osoyoos had a declining membership and he knew that representation was needed from south of Oliver, so Oliver SAR invited Osoyoos into its jurisdiction and rebranded the team to “Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue.” With a long military background and survival training he reformed “meetings” to certifiable training that would meet provincial standards from the Justice Institute of B.C.

Commitment

He has taken many courses within search and rescue, becoming a certified trainer, leader and SAR Manager. He is always the one that members go to for training and leadership. He leads and trains new members in SAR training on his own time, often coming in on weekends to provide additional tutelage to those in training. He has always modelled community involvement . The team participates in the community, in parades and being available to provide first aid at larger events. Additionally, relationships have been built with tasking agencies, such as the RCMP and fire departments.

Contribution

His leadership in OOSAR resulted in an increase in trained members so that an Initial Response Team (IRT) could be deployed by B.C. Search and Rescue. Female membership also was encouraged, so now almost half of the team as female. Most days, he is found at the OOSAR hall looking to plan for the next training week. He contributes well over 400 hours per year.

Perseverance

Over the years, despite changing provincial standards, higher requirements in training and increased administrative work, He continues to encourage the membership of almost 30 to be involved in the community and advance their training. Because of this, OOSAR has evolved and become a more progressive and professional organization with members being more specialized, including the first ever OOSAR. search dog that is now in training. He remains involved in search and rescue missions and is mentoring others to accept management roles and responsibilities of the society.”

RCMP Volunteer of the Year: Luc Pierlet

“He is employed by BC Commissionaires as a jail guard and is the head jail guard in Osoyoos. He has recently also taken over as head guard at the Oliver Detachment.

Osoyoos RCMP Detachment Commander, Sgt. Jason Bayda, said about this gentleman: “Without jail guards, our members would have to transport prisoners to Penticton. In doing so this would take a member off the road for a minimum of 2 hours.  He has worked diligently to not only recruit guards but also to ensure the guards are always kept up to date on mandatory training. I recognize guarding in Osoyoos is a part-time job, however, I have also constantly observed him putting in countless hours of his own volunteer time, to ensure the jails continue to run smoothly. Thank you for your dedication.  I don’t think you realize how much help you have been to all of us.  Congratulations on being the 2019 Osoyoos RCMP Volunteer of the Year recipient, an award voted on by the members you work with!”

RCMP Officer of the Year: Cpl. Dave Smith

“Osoyoos RCMP Commander Bayda said this about the recipient: “It takes a lot to be a leader in the RCMP. It takes a lot more to be a good leader.  He is not only a good leader, he is a great leader.  I hear members say and I have seen it myself that you lead by your actions, not words.  Although it’s not your job to take calls, you do so without hesitation especially when you know it will directly help your employees. You often come in early, stay late and if you see something that needs to be done, you do it.  The members have described you as an inspirational leader. I’m not surprised. You do so much extra without ever seeking recognition.  You show compassion and respect because you truly care about our clients. I would be remiss if I did not speak about your love for animals. You did your best when you tried to rescue a service dog from the Channel.  What really warmed our hearts is your actions afterwards, when the dog unfortunately passed away. Without hesitation, you personally paid to buy an urn and have the dog cremated. You did this because you cared and wanted to give back to the young man who lost his service dog. That is inspiration!  Congratulations on being awarded the 2019 Osoyoos RCMP Officer of the Year. An award voted on by your members and one that is much deserved!”