Twenty two new fire recruits graduated from firefighter recruit school duringb ceremonies held last night in the auditorium at River Ridge High School near Woodstock. The evening began with an invocation by Fire Chaplain, Don Williams, followed by the presentation of colors by the Cherokee County Fire Honor Guard and the singing of the national anthem by Darrek Cornelison.
Before the presentation of the certificates of completion, a slideshow was shown and gifts were presented to some of the fire training officers by Trevor Newberry, Class Spokesman and Colton Prather, Class Leader. Three special achievement awards were presented to three members of the recruit class. The W. ClarkWaters' Jr. Honor Graduate Award was presented to Spencer Williams. The award was named on behalf of Clark Waters, a Cherokee County firefighter, who passed away in 2004. The recipient of the Pinnacle Award for striving to "reach the top" due to dedication and hard-work in the firefighter recruit school class was presented to Colton Prather.