PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office recently held its 2016 Awards Recognition dinner, during which several deputies and volunteers were recognized for their services and efforts.
Awards such as Employee of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Search and Rescue (SAR) Volunteer of the Year, Medal of Valor, Life Saving, Meritorious Service, Meritorious Unit and Commendation awards were designated.
The Employee of the Year recipient was Lorraine Shore, administrative coordinator.
“It was a huge honor to be selected for Employee of the Year, and Sheriff [Bill] Benedict and his command staff kept it a secret from me right up to the end, which is impressive since I put the awards banquet together,” Shore said in a news release.
Al Carmin received the Volunteer of the Year honor, and Matthew Aston received the SAR Volunteer of the Year award.
Lyman Moores was awarded a Meritorious Service award.
Life Saving Awards
Deputy Paul Federline received two Life Saving Awards, while Sgt. John Hollis and Deputy Sheriff Don Kitchen each received one.
Federline performed CPR on a person who appeared to have overdosed on heroin while Port Angeles police officers administered a dose of Naloxone.
His “quick actions and application of basic first aid were instrumental in the saving of a human life,” the sheriff’s office said.
Federline and Hollis gave CPR to a deputy suffering from cyanosis and agonal respirations at the Clallam County jail until medics with the Port Angeles Fire Department arrived. The deputy survived, according to the news release.
On Dec. 4, Kitchen gave CPR to a man suffering a heart attack on Taylor Cutoff Road until medics arrived.
Medics transported the man to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, where the man, Larry Buzzell, underwent emergency surgery and was home on Christmas Eve, when Kitchen checked to see how his wife, Sue Chasen, was doing.
Buzzell and Chasen thanked Kitchen at the award banquet for saving Buzzell’s life.
Medal of Valor
Sgts. Ed Anderson and Shaun Minks both were recipients of the Medal of Valor after firing their duty weapons “in defense of their own lives, the lives of fellow officers and the lives of the public nearby.”
On Nov. 4, Anderson shot and killed Edward Lowell Hills, 59, during a confrontation at the Lake Pleasant Mobile Home and RV Park north of Forks.
Anderson was dispatched to conduct a welfare check on a park resident whose behavior had been reported as threatening and causing concern for the safety of other residents, the sheriff’s office said.
The man threatened to shoot Anderson and Forks Officer Michael Gentry by motioning with his hand in the shape of a gun toward Anderson. After refusing to exit the motor home, he retrieved a handgun from behind a chair adjacent to the doorway and began raising it toward officers, the sheriff’s office said.
Anderson fired his duty weapon at Hills in defense of himself and others, the sheriff’s office said.
Minks was among the officers who fired at James Edward Sweet, 37, during a shootout after Sweet led Port Angeles Police Officer Whitney Fairbanks on a high-speed chase east out of Port Angeles on May 18, according to the sheriff’s office. No officers were hurt.
After recovering from several gunshot wounds, Sweet faces arraignment on four counts of first-degree assault with law enforcement enhancements and one count of attempting to elude. His bail has been set at $1 million.
Meritorious Unit
Tim Bruce, Bill Cortani, George Eastman, Ed Evans, Brian Knutson, Josh Ley, Mark Millet, Matt Murphy, Jeff Pickrell, Andy Pursley, Tim Richards and Gail Wheatley all received the Meritorious Unit honor.
The award is given to members of a team or section for meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility.
Commendation
Kellie Abbot, Mike Backes, Idona Baumann, Steve Belcher, Luke Brown, Amy Bundy, Anne Chastain, Nate Clark, Evans, Federline, Hollis, John Keegan, Knutson, Eric Munger, Pickrell, Candace Priest, Chuck Sanders, Brandon Stoppani and Sandra Waterhouse all received commendation awards.
The award is given for excellence in the performance of duty, excellence in a specific assigned duty or for improving conditions within the agency or community.
Volunteers
The 2016 Presidential Volunteer Service Awards are categorized into gold, silver and bronze, each with their respective hours of service.
Gold recipients contributed more than 500 hours, silver awards lent more than 250 hours and bronze awards completed more than 100 hours.
Gold recipients were Patricia Baxter, Jim Buck, Bill Carter, Nita Lyman and Bruce and Kathleen Reiter.
Those who received silver awards were Matthew Aston, Karen Clatanoff, Sterling Epps, Dave Hepner, Paul Honore, Dave Hull, William Miano, Mark Newbold, Rik Scairpon, Kelly Thomas and Diane Wheeler.
Bronze recipients were Stephen Baranowski, Steve Belcher, Tim Bruce, Frank Bruni, Donna Buck, Al and Rosalie Camin, Martin Dawson, Alicia Diemer, Ed Evans, Richard Golding, Herman Halbach, David Hannon, Michael Hansen, Alan Hawley, Judy Hendrickson, Sheldon Koehler, Dave Kush, Bob Lake, Lisa Law, Carole and George March, Bob McGonigel, Ricki McLaughlin, Larry Meehan, Bob Mills, Nancy Moore, Ellen Morrison, Ron Peregrin, John Richmond, Caitlin Stofferahn, Parker Stoops, David Sue, Allan Tyson, Wheatley, Ryan Wilson and Joseph Wright.
In all, 104 volunteers gave 19,036 hours of service to the sheriff’s office and community — equaling a dollar value of $448,569 — by participating in search and rescue, community policing, amateur radio emergency services, emergency management, the chaplain team, cold case investigation and as reserve deputies.
Deputy Don Kitchen, right, poses with Sue Chasen, left, and Larry Buzzell at the ceremony where Kitchen received an award for his actions in saving Buzzell’s life.
