Groton Fire Department awards Sam Rose and Matt Whitaker

At its recent annual awards banquet, the Groton Fire Department (GFD) honored four of its members: Mariel Bode, Sam Rose, Daimon Shoemaker, and Matt Whitaker. Bode and Shoemaker were co-recipients of the Firefighter of the Year Award and will be featured in next week’s column, but this week highlights Rose and Whitaker.

Whitaker, a five-year veteran of the GFD, was the recipient of the Basic Life Support (BLS) Provider of the Year Award for the Central New York region this past September, and a full story on his background can be found in the Aug. 30 edition of this column. The GFD gave him the Phil Shurtleff EMS Provider of the Year Award, which is given to a deserving individual who stands out on the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) side of the department.

“Phil Shurtleff organized the Groton Ambulance Squad back in 1967 and served many years as the EMS captain,” Chief Eric DeForrest said. “Phil’s dedication to Groton Ambulance influenced all his children — Jim, Mike, Lee, Lisa and daughter in-law, Lori — to become EMTs [emergency medical technicians], as well as his grandchildren Bryan, Chad and Riley Shurtleff. Phil’s wife, Norma, answered the ambulance phone and kept ambulance records and memorial accounts. Phil also donated the initial equipment and garage the ambulance was kept in until our back station was built. This award has been handed out for 14 consecutive years now.”

Currently, Whitaker is a full-time EMS for Cornell University and has been the captain of the GFD’s Hooks Company for the past two years. He also volunteers many hours covering youth sports and varsity football as part of his devotion to the GFD.

“Matt can be counted on when needed most and has worked very hard the last two years maintaining his status as an EMS leader and working toward developing himself on the fire side of things,” DeForrest said. “Matt has taken multiple classes and ridden in the officer’s seat of the engine while responding to emergencies, directing his crew on what needs to be done, and has committed himself to learning everything there is to know in both fire and EMS.” 

“I was definitely not expecting to receive this award, as I had already received it about two years ago,” Whitaker said. “I felt like there were people more deserving of the award this year. I definitely don’t do this for awards or recognition — I do it because I love EMS and firefighting and because I love serving the community and its people.”

The Lester Coit Chiefs Award is given to an individual who has exhibited dedication to the operations of the GFD in honor of Coit’s many years as a department leader, as he has served 15 years as chief over several terms. This year’s recipient was Sam Rose.

“Sam is a 34-year veteran of the department and has been a scheduled EMS provider for all 34,” DeForrest said. “He shows exemplary dedication on every call and is also the president of the Pioneer Hose Company and serves on our board of wardens, offering input on the next direction of the department. Sam has shown unwavering dedication throughout his years as a GFD member.”

Coit and Rose joined the GFD at the same time in March 1989, and they even rode together to their training classes. At the time, Coit worked for the town of Groton and Rose was a grocery manager for P&C Foods and the union steward for United Food & Commercial Workers. Many knew Rose during his 29 years there, but many more know him as the owner of Robert W. Rose & Sons Farm, named for his father.

Sam grew up in Danby with his parents and siblings, Nancy (Dekar), Roger, Lynda (Halstead) and James, although his mother, Jessamine, passed away when Sam was four years old. In 1972, the family moved to Ithaca.

Throughout his high school years, Sam played football for Ithaca High School, but he didn’t have time for much else because he worked every weekend and school break on his brother-in-law’s farm.

Sam graduated in June 1978. He had met the love of his life, Cheryl Genung, at the Ithaca Bowl that April. They started dating and were married on July 18, 1981.

Initially, Sam planned to enter the U.S. Marine Corps to work on heavy equipment and become a military policeman, but he discovered that he is color blind — ending that plan.

“It was my mother-in-law, Jeannette Genung, who told me about a job at P&C at East Hill Plaza,” Sam said. “I started working there on the night crew, and then day dairy manager until 1986 before I became a grocery manager at the Trumansburg location.”

Sam managed the Trumansburg store for a short time, then Riverside Plaza for 10 years, and then he went back to East Hill until he retired from there in 2010. In the meantime, Sam and Cheryl had added three daughters to their family: Jessamine, Jennifer and Samantha. All three girls are alumni of Groton High School because Sam and Cheryl moved from Newfield to Old Stage Road in Groton in 1984.

In 1995, Sam purchased 54 acres of land from the Steger brothers on Chipman Corners Road, and in 1998, he purchased the remaining 87 acres of the Steger farm, along with a house and barn.

“My brother, Jim, and I painted the barn and decided to give the farm a name,” Sam said. “My dad was ill with cancer, and he had always wanted a farm, so we named it Robert W. Rose & Sons, after him.”

Sam said he’d wanted a farm himself since he was a little boy. He started out boarding cows in his barn for local farmers for about four years, and then he purchased an Angus beef herd which comprised six cows and a bull. Since then, he has had as many as 60 to 70 beef animals per year.

In the meantime, Sam and Cheryl had also purchased the 5 & 10 store in Groton in 1988. Cheryl ran the business, and both she and Sam were members of the Groton Business Association. It was there that they met and became friends with Scott and Karen Zirbel. Scott invited Sam to join the GFD, which Sam readily did.

“After we completed our training, Lester Coit excelled in the fire department,” Sam said, “but I chose to devote my service to driving ambulance because it was easier to schedule around my work schedule, and I still helped with fires as much as I was able. This March will be 35 years that I have been doing it. I have also been the GFD chaplain for the past eight years. I have been honored to serve with others as honor guard at funeral services for our fallen members.”

Sam keeps himself busy in other ways. He is an avid league bowler, a deacon on the board of Groton Assembly of God church, a three-year member of the Town of Groton Planning Board and a six-year member of the Groton Central School District Board of Education.

The Lester Coit Chiefs Award is not Sam’s first. He has received Ambulance Driver of the Year in the past, and the P&C Distinguished Service Award in the early 2000s when he assisted in saving the life of a co-worker by administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

“It’s just what you do,” Sam said. “If you live in the community, you give back to it. I love this community, and serving in the GFD is a way to do that. I want to thank all the chiefs I’ve worked under and the people I’ve worked with, and I’m really excited about the new building. The foundation is crumbling under the old one!”

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at 607-227-4922. 

In brief:

Dinner at the Legion

The Groton American Legion Post 800, 307 Main St., will offer a scalloped potatoes and ham dinner Friday, Feb. 9 beginning at 5 p.m. and serving until the food is gone. The take-out or eat-in dinner includes scalloped potatoes and ham, hot vegetable, roll and dessert for $10 per person. Call 607-898-3837 to reserve your dinner. Curbside delivery is also available.

Pancake breakfast in McLean

The McLean Fire Department Auxiliary will host a Valentine’s breakfast buffet at the McLean Fire Station from 7:30 to 11 a.m. or until gone, Sunday, Feb. 11. On the menu will be three different kinds of pancakes with real maple syrup (including special Valentine’s pancakes and special desserts), French toast, scrambled eggs, home-fried potatoes, sausage links, ham, sausage gravy with biscuits, assorted desserts, an assortment of juices, white and chocolate milk and coffee. The cost for adults is $13. For senior citizens and children over five years of age, the cost is $8. Children under five may eat free of charge. Toys for Tots will also be collected at every breakfast this year, and a toy donation will discount your breakfast by $1 per person.

Groton Business Association to revive

The Groton Business Association has been dormant for a number of years, and a group of its members and other members of the Groton community have been meeting for several months to plan for its revival.

On Jan. 30, with 15 people in attendance, a meeting was held, at which the by-laws were updated and the name of the association was changed to the Groton NY Community and Business Association. Officers were nominated, voted upon and duly appointed as follows: Kris Buchan, president; Leon Brockway, first vice president; Sophia Darling, second vice president; and Jesse Norton, secretary/treasurer. Three members were also voted in as the charter members of the association’s board of directors: Christine Brennan, Kim Lane and Margo Martin. Stay tuned for more information as the association evolves.