Photo courtesy of Botetourt Co.
By Matt de Simone
The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors and County Fire & EMS Chief Jason Ferguson congratulated Buchanan Volunteer Firefighter John Manspile on 45 years of service to the community.
Manspile began his service in Botetourt in 1979 and served as a career firefighter with the Roanoke City Fire Department for 25 years before he retired.
“This is certainly not a retirement item that we present,” Ferguson said. “This is more so an acknowledgement for folk who are in the service reaching these length of service benchmarks. I would much rather afford the opportunity to acknowledge and award them while they’re still serving with us.”
Manspile shared his thoughts on receiving the award from the county and thanked his friends in attendance.
“It’s been really great fun,” Manspile said. “It’s a lot of hard work and I really enjoy it and hope to continue on for a while longer until my health gets to where I will no be able to do it.”
Manspile commended Chief Ferguson on the county having “the best man you could get for the job.”
He joins fellow county firefighters Chief Daryl Johns from Eagle Rock Fire Dept. and Jim Short from Read Mountain Fire Dept. who were also recognized earlier this year for their years of service to Botetourt County.
