Foxton Beach firefighters clock up 100 years

Foxton Beach firefighters clock up 100 years

Two men who between them have given more than 100 years of service to their community were honoured with a special service at the Manawatū Marine Boating Club at the weekend.

Foxton Beach Fire Brigade's Rodney Caldow QSM and Neil Robbie KSM were presented with Double Gold Star medals for 50 years of service at a ceremony attended by family, friends and a delegation of Fire and Emergency hierarchy.

It’s a big deal. More people have played for the All Blacks than be awarded a Double Gold Star. They were the 366th and 367th recipients respectively. 

Their wives, Brenda Caldow and Louise Robbie, children and grandchildren attended the ceremony – one highlight of the night was speeches made by Rodney’s daughter, Mikaela Caldow, and Neil’s granddaughter, Holly Robbie.

It served to underscore that to volunteer for Fire and Emergency meant the whole family is involved.

Neil says it’s part and parcel of the job, but the reality is the siren can sound at any time – day or night.

He remembers just placing a steak on the barbecue on Christmas afternoon when the siren went off. It’s always tough for any volunteer to miss a special event involving the children.

Rodney says he often had to leave family members sitting in the car outside the station as there wasn’t time to drop them home “but there was always someone to come along and look after them”.

On the other side, there’s a social aspect that is rewarding for volunteers and their families, and where life-long friendships are forged. Rodney says he caught the bug from his father, Jack, who served in the brigade.

Both Rodney and Neil are builders, too, and had always encouraged staff to volunteer for the brigade. At one time Rodney had five employees who were also volunteers, which meant tools down and no work was getting done if there was an emergency call-out. 

“Every town has a volunteer brigade doing the same thing,” he says.

It was fitting the celebration was a combined one. Their fathers, Ken and Jack, were good mates and growing up they became mates, too.

Rodney was just 15 when he first joined the beach brigade in February 1975, and a few months later Neil joined up at the age of 19.

Firefighting has come a long way. Neil says he remembers climbing aboard a flat-deck truck on the way to an emergency. It was the done thing. Volunteers would just have to hang on.

In those early days, on the way to one emergency, they went over a bump and turned too quickly. Four fell off the truck, one breaking a wrist, the other an ankle. They put on a brave face until the job was done, then sought treatment themselves.

One aspect that must be acknowledged is that in their service they’ve seen things nobody should. They’ve sought to help people in horrific circumstances in attending car crashes, fires and medical emergencies, and have been confronted by tragedy. 

It can be “hard to sleep” sometimes and tough serving in a smaller community, too, but that’s where the sense of Fire and Emergency family kicks in and there is plenty of professional support.

Neil says it’s important not to dwell on those experiences and to focus on the fun times and the camaraderie and “togetherness” of the service.

“We are a team and it is always a team effort,” he says. “The ‘fire family’ is an incredible thing.”

Rodney says he has learnt a huge amount from belonging to the fire service and was able to transpose some of that discipline and life skills to business.

“It has taught me a lot, for which I am grateful,” he says.

Neil, 69, and Rodney, 65, both say they still love serving and have more to offer with no plans to hang up their hoses.

The ceremony on Saturday night was organised by volunteer Jaimee Brannigan and attended by almost 150 people, including Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden and a large Fire and Emergency contingent including FENZ Northland community risk manager Mitchell Brown, UFBA president Jeff Mansen, FENZ deputy national commander Brendan Nally, group manager Craig Gold, regional manager Bruce Stubbs, district manager Nigel Dravitzki, Wellington gold star association president John Edmond, Wellington provincial fire brigade and association vice-president Martin Sutherland.