Monroe County Emergency Services (MCES) and the City of Culloden held a special ceremony on Thursday, March 9 at the old Culloden schoolhouse to honor Monroe County’s two longest-tenured fire service volunteers.
Fireman Samuel Randolph “Sam” Bennett (51 years of volunteer service) and Capt. Edward Bennett “Bennett” Norris (50 years of volunteer service) received awards for their years of meritorious service to the Culloden Fire Department and MCES.
About 50 family members and friends attended the hour-and-a-half long event, which featured guest speakers, special music, and a post-ceremony lunch. MCES Fire Chief Matthew Jackson and MCES staffers Margie Bryant, Roxanne Dewberry, and Skin Neal organized the ceremony, which was a surprise party for Bennett and Norris.
Retired MCES Battalion Chief Elliot Chambliss served as Master of Ceremony at the event, welcoming the gathered crowd and also singing an unaccompanied solo performance of gospel artist Richard Smallwood’s “The Center of My Joy.”
Culloden Primitive Baptist Elder Matt Yawn gave a prayer followed by Chief Jackson asking the audience for a moment of silence in memory of three now-deceased Culloden Fire Department volunteers: Fireman Reuben Jordan, Fireman Charles “Edd” Norris, and Support Staffer Richard “Rik” Clifton.
Former MCES Chief Glenn Dorner, visiting from his home in Washington state as he works on a history book about MCES, was one of more than a handful of former MCES Chiefs, Assistant Chiefs, and Battalion Chiefs in attendance on Tuesday along with Chambliss, Phillip Herndon, Donny Mercer, G.T. Mitchell Jr., and Ronald Norris. Dorner said the idea for a Monroe County Fire Department stemmed from an inquiry by several citizens at a 1971 Monroe County Board of Commissioners asking why the county didn’t own a fire truck. Dorner said from there, then-Board chairman Billy Harris and several other longtime Commissioners, including Andy Dillon, Hiram Harbuck, and Joe Proctor, took up the cause and by 1972 Culloden had formed a volunteer fire department of which Bennett was among the earliest volunteers. Norris then joined the Culloden volunteer fire department a year later in 1973. Dorner said Culloden’s first fire truck was a military-style truck bought via a lease/purchase agreement with the Georgia Forestry Commission.
Bennett and Norris were then presented with trophies by Culloden Mayor Lynn Miller before Chief Jackson read aloud and presented the duo with special service commendations signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland, who represents Culloden, said the word “unassuming” comes to mind when he thinks of both Bennett and Norris.
“Many times, service is not rewarded, it’s not acknowledged, or it’s not given much consideration,” Commissioner Rowland said. “But a true servant takes on the task, works to complete it, and it doesn’t matter if it’s too hard or too boring or too vague or too detailed or not compensated enough in other people’s mind, a true servant is wanting to take care of the job that’s there to be done and will feel self-satisfaction about what he did. I think that’s what personifies Mr. Sam and Bennett.”
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Bennett and Norris were each invited on stage to say a few words.
Bennett said, “It’s been an honor to serve Culloden and the local community. . . I’ve enjoyed working with all the people who were paid, and the volunteer firefighters, and the chiefs.”
Norris, who is Bennett’s nephew, then followed his uncle’s remarks by saying he too is proud to have served alongside every member of MCES and thankful for his Culloden neighbors.
“There’s something about Culloden that they come together when times get hard,” Norris said. “And Monroe County. Growing up in a small community, everybody cares about each person. It’s not about race. It’s not about being a woman or a man. It’s about who you are, and everybody cares.”
Chief Jackson then closed Thursday’s ceremony by thanking Bennett and Norris one final time.
“Thank you for 50 years of dedicated service not only to the City of Culloden but to Monroe County as a whole,” Chief Jackson said. “The City of Culloden and Monroe County are both better and safer places because of your dedicated service for the past 50 years.”
