By Kathy Miller

On Saturday, April 30 the New Melle Fire Protection District (NMFPD) held its Annual Awards Banquet at New Melle Sports and Rec. Chief Dan Casey opened the evening with a toast and a moment of silence to all the fallen brothers and heroes.
The awards began with a video review of the calls the District responded to, which was put together by Captain Scott Repke. He did a great job showing some of the incredible calls the department responded to in 2021. Chief Casey expressed how proud he is of everyone. “In looking back over the last year I realized it was not what we responded to but HOW we responded, as a department and community. I am surrounded by quality people doing quality work.” The Chief firmly believes in every decision they make, their mission is Community FIRST, and by keeping that as their focus they can handle anything that is presented to them.

A special thanks to the Auxiliary members for all of their endeavors on behalf of the NMFPD. A special thanks to NMSR for use of their facility, MoSaic Cafe and Catering for a delicious dinner, Game World Events for the entertainment and most importantly thank you to the families of our dedicated firefighters for all of your sacrifice and support.

It was a great evening of awards, food, laughs, and stories. Congratulations to Dave Moeller on his retirement and to all the award recipients for their dedication and service to the NMFPD and the community.

Awards Presented to:

Volunteer Brian Smith was recognized for most responses, 74 of the 675 calls! 

Recognized for 15 years of service: (L-R) John Schneider and Adam Webbink. 

Volunteer firemen were presented shields for completing their first year of service. (L-R): Jacob Casey, Brennen Roberts, Dan Main, Timothy Dial, John Gleich, Neil DeYong. Not pictured Dillon Monroe, Dan Ploesser and Kyle Williams.  


Recognized for five years of volunteer service: (L-R) Brian Smith, Christopher Hendrix and Scott King. 

Chief Dan Casey (Left) and Jeff Capstick (Right)  recognized for 25 years of service. 

Josh Ellis received an Outstanding Service Award, for his service above and beyond. 

The NMFPD Auxiliary presented framed photos of the firefighters, to the board, for the firehouse. (L-R): Auxiliary President - Laura Fox, Kyle Shell - Board Treasurer, Barb Moeller - Auxiliary Member, Bucky Loyd - Board President, Paula Busken - Auxiliary Member, Missy Opfer - Auxiliary Member,  Mike Moore, Board Member,  Jodi Howell-Repke - Auxiliary Member. 


Dave Moeller and his wife Barb, retiring with 24 years of service. He started his firefighting career as a volunteer.

(L-R): Dave Moeller with his current crew, Tom Fox, Adam Webbink and Scott Repke.

Dave Moeller with his original crew. Mike Webbink, (Left) and Scott Repke (Right).