Ramsey Shield Awards Honor Emergency Responders [PHOTOS]

Five locals have been singled out for exemplary service to the Ramsey Community. For their work on the borough’s police, fire, rescue, ambulance and OEM teams, the five were honored at the 36th Annual Knights of Columbus Shield Awards Thursday night.

The recipients of the 2013 awards were Sergeant Kevin T. Kelly, Ramsey Police Department; Firefighter Kerry Conklin, Ramsey Fire Department; Captain Captain Zachary Schleicher, Ramsey Rescue Squad; Captain Donald Evans, Ramsey Ambulance Corps; and Operations Chief Steven Ahlstedt, Ramsey Office of Emergency Management.

“It is an honor to again be able to recognize our public safety personnel who do an excellent job safeguarding the residents of Ramsey. They all perform a dangerous and demanding task, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week,” Grand Knight Ron Damato said in a release announcing the awards.

“In light of the work that they performed responding to Hurricane Sandy, we owe this year’s recipients a special thanks.”

According to the release, the Shield Awards were started in May 1977 to honor an outstanding member of the Ramsey Fire Department and Police Department. The other agencies have joined the awards since then.

Each group chooses its own recipient.

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