Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
More than half of the firefighters in attendance at the annual Kosciusko Fire Association dinner Thursday night were alive during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Kevin McSherry, president of the Fire Association, told those present at the dinner, “Right before 9/11, we saw a sign and my grandson was with me. He says, ‘Poppy, you see those Twin Towers?’ I said, ‘Yep, 343 firemen died.’ He says, ‘How can you remember that?’ I said, ‘Max, how the hell could I forget?’ That’s all I could say. I educated him a little bit. He’s 13 years old. He didn’t have a clue, but after we got done, he had a clue,” McSherry recalled. “Because during 9/11, his dad, his uncle, myself, we were all active firemen, and I had an old farmer in Mentone ask me the next morning, ‘Well, Mr. Fire Chief, what would you have done different than those New York boys?’”
McSherry said he was speechless for a moment.
“I said, ‘I don’t know, Homer, I guess I would have died that day.’ Because that’s what we do. We worry about the important stuff after the fact, but we go, and we go in and we try to help. But so many people in this society, they don’t care. They worry about their own (selves) and to heck with the next guy. But, thank God you guys aren’t like that,” he stated.
Earlier during the dinner, four awards were presented.
The 2026 Kosciusko County Friend of the Firemen award was presented to Times-Union photographer Gary Nieter, who was unaware that he was going to receive the honor.
In presenting the award to Nieter, McSherry said, “He needs to be recognized, he should’ve been recognized years ago. Most of you know him. His name is Gary Nieter. He’s a professional photographer and he’s been a friend of the firemen before we even knew it.”
Years ago, when people used 35 mm cameras, McSherry said Nieter would take rolls of film of bad accidents and give the photos to the fire departments for evidence and “that’s all that was said. He did it for us. He did it for all of you, and I’ll bet money that he’s done it for every department in here. So, he’s a friend of the fireman. Always has been, always will be and we’ll recognize him tonight.”
For the 2026 Service Award, McSherry read the nomination on the recipient, Terry Eppley from the Plain Township-Leesburg Fire Department.
The nomination said Eppley joined the fire department in 1982. He served the department as an officer for 20 years of his 43 years of service. Of those 20 years, he served six years as chief, six as first assistant and eight years as second assistant, the nomination stated.
A diesel mechanic, Eppley helped with keeping the trucks serviced and repaired. He’s the caretaker of the antique fire truck and is always willing to explain how they used the truck to fight fires back in the day.
“He has always been willing to work with the town members, as well as new recruits, to pass on knowledge that would help them grow into the best firefighters they can be,” McSherry read.
Eppley is a respected member of the fire department and dedicated to the service of the community. He has supported the Fire Association in all his years, attending chiefs and monthly meetings, and his commitment to the department and fire service is “hard to match and something all should applaud,” McSherry said.
After receiving the award, Eppley said, “It’s been an honor and a privilege to be on this fire department, to rub shoulders with all you people out here and if it wasn’t for Jerry Kammerer, I probably never would have had this opportunity, in more ways than one. Thank you very much.”
The 2026 Firefighter of the Year Award went to Mentone’s Bobby Adams, who couldn’t attend the dinner.
The nomination for him to receive the honor said he’s been on the department since 2016 and rose through the ranks quickly to become an officer.
“He is a person you can always count on, and get the job done and is never afraid of working hard to do so,” McSherry read from the nomination. “He’s also served as the county association secretary and attends the county meetings on a regular basis, staying involved in the fire service across the county to help where he can.”
Adams has helped with Camp HERO and other countywide events, always ready to lend a hand when needed, the nomination stated.
The fourth award of the night was the 2026 Kosciusko County Attendance Award, which went to the Winona Lake Fire Department.
McSherry said WLFD received the award because “they have brought more people to our county meetings, which we average 49.5 men monthly at each meeting.”
Before that award was presented, McSherry gave a “State of the Association” speech.
“Tonight we didn’t set up with many chairs, and we didn’t fill them either. But, Syracuse is doing their job. Leesburg is doing their job. The rest of you need to bring more people. And I know we have to fill the truck seats at home, too. It’s not an easy split, but we’ve got to get more people involved. There’s a lot of work, lot of money that goes into this event, and we don’t mind doing it as long as we get participation,” McSherry said.
He pointed out they have retired and working Warsaw guys who come, “and we appreciate all of it.” Retired firefighters from any and all county departments are welcomed.
McSherry said they’re on the brink of something “very large” for the county.
“We have the vendor that’s interested in sponsoring CO (carbon monoxide) alarms for everyone in the county. Now, he only said there’s 33,000 homes in this county, and he thinks like 10,000 of them are around the lakes in high-income houses and he doesn’t feel all warm and fuzzy about furnishing the detector for them, they can buy their own, which I got to agree,” he said.
They tried half a dozen CO alarms and it wasn’t easy, he said. Not all of them worked as they were suppose to. When they find one they’re confident in putting their name behind, McSherry said they want it to be United Laboratories (UL) tested so there’s some scientific proof behind it.
“We’ve been testing it in Winona Lake Fire Station,” he said. “It’s not been an easy process. We’re talking about a lot of money. We’re talking about 20,000 alarms. We’re looking at the kind that doesn’t have to be installed necessarily, like drilled into the wall. It just plugs into the reset.”
He said it’s been slow going and he had hoped they’d have it ready to put out right now, but there’s two more to test and they’re having trouble buying them in a large quantity at a decent price. There’s also legal liability they’ve got to worry about. He said everyone will know soon, and Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Joel Shilling has agreed that Warsaw will be the central pick-up point, but other departments can pick some alarms up from there to pass out at their stations.
Also during the dinner, District 2 Training Coordinator Matt Neher spoke briefly during the dinner about upcoming classes.
McSherry recognized the township trustees who were present, including Aime Hoffman, Seward Township; Molly Bradford, Lake Township; Julia Goon, Prairie Township; and Spencer Bartlett, Clay Township.
And, before and during the dinner, vendors were on hand to talk about the equipment and services they offer to firefighters and fire departments. Those included Macqueen, Donley Safety, Dinges Fire and Hoosier Fire Equipment.
