Longtime public servants to be honored

Members of the Anderson family have been part of the Cos Cob Volunteer Fire Co. since it was founded in 1922, Cos Cob Chief Tom Anderson said.

The 36-year-old electrical contractor has volunteered with the department since 1983, when his father, also Tom Anderson, served as chief.

Anderson's grandfather, Nelson, served as chief during the 1940s, and was a charter member of the department.

"It's become a family tradition," Anderson said.

Chief Anderson is one of more than 100 Greenwich volunteer firefighters who will be honored today in Danbury, at a ceremony led by Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, with public service awards recognizing volunteer fire personnel in the 4th Congressional District with 20 or more years of service.

The ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Ives Concert Hall at Western Connecticut State University will recognize more than 800 firefighters from 11 towns, including Stamford, Norwalk, Fairfield, Monroe and Ridgefield.

"It's nice for them to get the recognition because they aren't paid to do it, but it means a little bit more when it comes from the state of Connecticut," Anderson said.

Bysiewicz said she started the Public Service Awards program in 2000 to laud state residents who served their communities for many years. Fire companies were canvassed and asked to list members with 20 or more years of services.

Ceremonies will be held for volunteer firefighters in the state's other five congressional districts, she said.

"It comes from the fact that a lot of people who have helped to make their communities better have never formally been thanked and were very grateful for a formal thank you," she said.

In addition to the Cos Cob Volunteer Fire Co., members of the Glenville Volunteer Fire Co. and the Volunteer Hose & Chemical Co. in central Greenwich will be honored.

James Yerks Jr., a 92-year-old member of the Cos Cob Volunteer Fire Co., will receive a separate award for his 70 years of service to the company, Bysiewicz said.

A Greenwich resident since 1919, Yerks joined the Cos Cob department in 1933 at the age of 21 and served as an active firefighter until 1965. Today he continues as the company's treasurer, a post he has held since 1953.

"I've had a wonderful life and enjoyed every minute being a fireman," Yerks said. "I'm looking forward to the ceremony."