DAWSON CITY – The final formal exercise during the 22nd annual Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs’ gathering was the distribution of awards for Long and Exemplary Service.

The Long Service Awards from the Yukon government were presented at last Saturday evening’s closing banquet by Community Services Minister Brad Cathers and Clive Sparks, who retired earlier this year as Whitehorse’s fire chief.

They were for five years (Mike Sederington and Dennis Berry), 20 years (Kevin Lyslo and Charles McLaren) and 25 years (Ken Oppal and Kevin Taylor) of service.

Association president Jim Regimbal presented Sparks with his award for 45 years of service, which prompted a standing ovation for him.

The Exemplary Service Medals were presented by Commissioner Doug Phillips, with the assistance of Sparks and Regimbal.

The ESM is a Governor General’s medal given for 20 years of meritorious service.

The awards went to Chief Charles McLaren of Golden Horn and Chief Bob Atkinson of Ibex Valley.

Sparks was presented with a special retirement award by Regimbal and Phillips.

It was a firefighter’s axe embedded in the plaque with the wording “Presented to Clive Sparks in recognition of all that you have contributed to the Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs and Yukon’s fire service.”

Phillips and Sparks were school mates together many years ago, and Phillips had a little prediction to make.

“We’re going to have a reunion at F.H. Collins (Secondary School in Whitehorse) next summer, and I know that many of the folks that are going to come to the reunion are going to reiterate what they said way back when we were in school,” Phillips said.

“Just after we got out of school, they said, ‘How in the heck did a guy called Clive Sparks ever become a fireman?’ And then they said, ‘How did he become the fire chief?’

“Well, we all know why he became a fireman, and we all know why he became the fire chief.

“Forty-five years of service in any job is exemplary. To do it in the service of others and protecting others is extraordinary.”