The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE — Do you have a heart for service and some time you can volunteer to help others in need?
If so, the members of the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad are looking for you.
The squad is currently holding a recruitment drive, seeking individuals who can help bolster its established roster of dedicated members.
The squad covers Clifton Forge, the east end of Alleghany County and Bath and Botetourt counties.
Squad members respond to an average of 1,500 or more calls for service each year, in addition to many hours of training needed to maintain levels of certifications along with other community service projects.
Coverage is provided by 24-hour duty crews and meetings are held the first Tuesday of each month.
The squad’s full members are required to contribute at least 90 hours each month, while associate members contribute at least 36 hours.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad was organized in May 1945.
The squad began with 12 charter members operating with a converted funeral van that served as an ambulance.
Early on, the squad was housed within the Clifton Forge Fire Department in a building located next door to city hall.
In 1954 the squad separated from the Clifton Forge Fire Department to form its own incorporated agency and moved to its current location at 522 Commercial Street.
In 1959, the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad headquarters was named Paxton Hall in honor of the squad’s first captain, J. W. M. Paxton, who served the squad as captain for 11 years.
In 1975 the Van Horn family donated property adjacent to the squad building on Commercial Street and the rescue squad built an addition that was primarily used, at that time, for the Junior Membership and storage.
The squad is in the process of completing a new state-of-the-art facility on Hickory Avenue in Clifton Forge.
The facility is set to be completed in July.
Current squad officers include:
Working Officers: Captain Matt Booze; 1st Lt. Chuck Harlow; 2nd Lt. Rescue Greg Horton; 2nd Lt. Training Lisa Horton, and 2nd Lt. Contest Stacie Booze;
Corporate Officers: President Michael Simpson; Vice President Greg Horton; Secretary Stacie Booze; Treasurer Teresa Gibson; Quartermaster Irene Booze and Chaplain Donna Hughes.
For more information on the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad, or for a membership application, go to the squad’s website at cfrescue1.com.
You can also follow the squad on its Facebook page.
