Bill Smith, past president, was master of ceremonies at the annual appreciation banquet at Polk Township Volunteer Fire Company, Kresgeville. He thanked everyone for coming and pointed the way to the hors d'oeuvre table.

Daily number tickets were being sold and the winner was Jack Rader, who turned the $100 won back to the fire company even before he knew how much he had won.Receiving special thanks was Bill Tippett for handling building and maintenance along with C&B Landscaping. Linda Kile assisted in organizing the weekly bingo games. Matt Schessler takes care of special events.On hand were Polk Township supervisors Brian Ahner, Mike Hurley and Carl Heckman. They plow and cinder the driveways without pay and received a special thank you. Hurley installed cameras and donated his time, with the company paying only for the equipment.Rader applied for grants and helped with the breakfasts.A 40-year membership award went to Barry Borger, who served as fire chief and line officer during those years. Rusty Burger served 30 years and Henry Schierloh was honored for 10 years of service.Billy Tippett noted that he was young for the position of fire chief but no one ever gave him a hard time."That means a lot," he said.Local government was there to help at a moment's notice. You hear some horror stories about the relationship between government and the fire companies. I didn't have anything like that, Tippett said."On behalf of the supervisors I also deal with other fire companies and no one is as good to deal with as you. The people in the community should know how blessed they are," Hurley said.It was Bill Smith's last year as president, a position he held for five years. Candy Burger also was stepping down after five years.Tippett said 2016 was a busy year. A new truck went into service a week earlier and is mentioned as being "the monster over our heads" in the garage area. It cost $653,000."It's everybody's, not just the fire company's," Tippett said. There were 175 emergency calls and the company gave fire safety presentations.He thanked everybody who was in attendance and those who couldn't make it.President Matt Schessler and Vice President Derrick Burger do big things here and in the community.The line officers were sworn in by Supervisor Hurley. Line officers are: Rick Scherer, assistant chief; Barry Borger, captain; Matt Schessler, captain, Aaron Keller, lieutenant; Jim Overpeck, lieutenant; Erik Anderson, engineer; Al Keller, engineer; and Jim Schaffer, engineer.Firefighters are Eddie Arnold, Eric Bailey, Brian Beck, Barry Borger, Candy Burger, Rusty Burger, Chris Cronshey, Marta Harris, Cindy Burger, Dilland Kingsbury, Steven Pucci, Mary Beth Serfass, Bill Smith and William Tippett.Fire police are: Eddie Arnold, Barry Borger, Candy Burger, Rusty Burger, Carolyn Germanton, Al Keller, Aaron Keller, Tim Overpeck, Jim Schafer, Matt Schessler and Mary Beth Serfass.They were told they perform an important service to the community.Fire chief Billy Tippett and emergency management coordinator Barry Borger accepted a check of $15,000 from Hurley.Announcing the Ladies Auxiliary, Schessler said, "I want to thank you for a fantastic job. I want to thank their president, Edna Schoenberger. Without her we couldn't do it."Auxiliary members are Shirley Haydt, vice president; Sue Shoemaker, secretary; Gail Anders, treasurer; Vickie Serfass, corresponding secretary; and Dottie Jeker, events.Matt Schessler, the new president, said Derrick Burger would be his vice president and they would work side by side. It will be "the president and vice president," he said, not one or the other.Upcoming events are a ham raffle for Easter, a filling sale, a return of the yard sale and a special bingo. There will be a 5K race at Camp Trexler and a Holiday 50-50.Three years from now we will be celebrating our 50th year. The company was begun in 1969 by Eddie Arnold and Clarence Hawk, both of whom are still with us.