The Wyoming Legislature approved a joint resolution this week recognizing Fremont County resident Jim Woodward for his 50-plus years of service with the Riverton Volunteer Fire Department.
“Woodward has been an active member of the fire service longer than 24 members of this House have been alive,” Wyoming Rep. Andrew Byron, R-Jackson, said Monday on the floor of the Wyoming House of Representatives. “(He) joined the RVFD in 1970 and is still an active member. … Woodward regularly attends meetings, assists on fire calls, and remains involved in apparatus design.”
Woodward, 85, served as RVFD chief twice in the 1980s, Byron said; he has also held “numerous” other positions with the department, and in 1995 he earned the RVFD Citation Merit Award.
Others recognized
After reading the resolution honoring Woodward, Byron also took the time to acknowledge the “entourage Chief Woodward has brought” to the House, pointing to the group of family members and retired and current fire chiefs from “that great County of Fremont” observing the presentation Monday.
“Thank you for all you’ve done for Wyoming and for your community,” House Speaker Wyoming Rep. Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale, said, addressing Woodward and the assembled firefighters. “Thank you … for all you do for all the people around the State of Wyoming. We certainly appreciate your service, and we’re really glad that you’re here with us today. (It’s) really nice to see people like that in our communities.”
As Woodward exited the House Chamber, Wyoming Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, took the opportunity to commend another member of the family: Woodward’s wife, Shirley.
“Mr. Woodward is a great guy,” Larsen said. “But for those of us that would, from time-to-tie, frequent the Riverton Sale Barn, his wife made the greatest pies ever. And I think the deserves a round of applause.”
