First Lt. Steve Nadal of the Washington Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1 of the Saugerties Fire Dept. is presented with the award by Chief Dave Mason (photo by Robert Ford)
For Steve Nadal, this year’s Saugerties Fire Department Firefighter of the Year, it was destined that he would become a fireman.
“My grandfather, Fred Smith, was a firefighter,” Nadal said after being presented with his trophy prior to the July 4th parade.
His grandfather would take him to the firehouse on a regular basis, where he played on the fire trucks and got to know what it meant to be a fireman.
Nadal is a first lieutenant with the Washington Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
He’s been a member of the fire department since 2003. Nadal and his wife, Kayla, have two sons, Jace and Cade, who they hope will follow in the footsteps of their great-grandfather and father. Nadal works for the village Waste Water Dept.
Also honored for their service to the fire department at the annual inspection, which was moved into the Partition St. firehouse because of the rain, were parade grand marshal Duane Buddle, fire department chaplain emeritus and retired pastor of the Saugerties United Methodist Church; Mary Frank, who was clerk of the village for 17 years before retiring last month; Margaret “Peggy” Kolano, and Deacon Hank Smith of St. Mary of the Snow.
(The award covers the village department, and does not include the town’s several companies.)