Wesley Rigdon has been a member of Lake Norman Fire Department for two and a half years. Saturday night was the biggest night of his young career. Wesley was honored as the AY Neel Iredell County Firefighter of the Year. His nomination mentioned several calls Wesley responded to and his qualifications he has worked hard to get. It also made note of the time devoted to the department when someone has to be around for public service events at the station. The award itself is named after a founding member of Lake Norman Volunteer Fire Department, AY Neel. Mr Neel was active with the department and with Piedmont Mutual Insurance who sponsors the award. Upon his death in 2006, the award was named after Mr. Neel. Wesley is the first Lake Norman member to be honored as the county's top firefighter since Eddie Neel won the award in the mid 1980's. On behalf or Lake Norman Fire Department, we want to congratulate Wesley on his achievement.

Woodland Heights Elementary won the Irededll county Fire Quiz Bowl recently in Statesville. Woodland Heights, the reigning state champion, was coached by Lake Norman VFD Firefighter Neil Baker. The Fire Quiz Bowl is a trivia type game that asks school children fire safety questions. Neil's brother Mark Baker, also a Lake Norman firefighter, coached Lake Norman Elementary to a fourth place finish. Congratulations and thank you to the students and coaches of this year's teams.

As of Monday January 18, 2010, Junior Firefighter Mason Missler resigned as a member of Lake Norman Volunteer Fire Department. This ends Lake Norman Fire Department's involvement in this case. Any further disciplinary actions will be handled by the Iredell County Sherriff's office and the judicial system. We apologise for any confusion that may have been caused by our statement concerning the handling of this case.

The Officer's and Board of Directors of the Lake Norman Volunteer Fire Department take these charges against this member very seriously. Any disciplinary actions taken against the member will be handled in house and will not be released to the public. The members of our organization strive to help the community whenever we can serve. We are aware of the damage to our image these charges have caused. The members of Lake Norman Volunteer Fire Department will restore the public's trust and confidence in our department, as well as the proud men and women who have dutifully served this community since 1966.

Visitors to Lake Norman's station may notice the yellow pipes hanging from the ceilling. This is the new Plymovent system recently installed. The Plymovent is an air filtration system that captures the exhaust from trucks and safely removes it from the area. The system was puchased with $61,750 from a FEMA grant. Lake Norman VFD received this grant thanks to many hours of work by Robert Burtsell.