On Thursday, April 25, 2024, Club members, first responders, their families and friends will come together for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of our prestigious Valor & Meritorious Awards.

Congratulations 2024 Honorees!

Roxbury Company One
Fire and EMS
Meritorious Honorees

EMT Pamela Sawyer Karkovice
Fire Engineer/EMT Ryan Fischlein

Boonton Police Department
Meritorious Honoree

Sergeant Daniel Mondino

Mountain Lakes
Police Department
Meritorious Honoree

Patrolman David Brown

Pequannock Police Department
Valor Honoree

Sergeant James Dericks

Pequannock Police Department
Valor Honoree

Patrolman Stephen Knatz, Jr.

Pequannock Police Department
Meritorious Honoree

Patrolman Brian Parigi

Denville Police Department
Valor Honoree

Sergeant Frederick Jackson

Morris County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT)
Valor Honoree

Corporal Matthew Cilurso

Morris County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT)
Valor Honoree

Sergeant James Rae

Morristown
Bureau of Police
Valor Honoree

Sergeant James Krauss

Roxbury Township
Police Department
Valor Honoree

Patrolman Charles R. Bohannon, Jr.

Roxbury Township
Police Department
Valor Honoree

Patrolman Steven Strowbridge.

Washington Township
Police Department
Valor Honoree

Former Corporal Kevin Barnes

Wharton Borough
Police Department
Valor Honoree

Sergeant Richard Ornelas

Saint Clare’s Health System
Meritorious Honorees

Paramedic Kasey Bizzaro, MICP
Paramedic Andrew Quevedo, MICP

Boonton Fire Department
Meritorious Team Honorees

Firefighter Ryan Baker
Lieutenant Michael Mullaney
Firefighter Carl M. Wendt
Past Chief James Wendt, Sr.
Captain Tyler Wendt

Special Guest Speaker
Colonel Patrick J. Callahan
New Jersey State Police

Colonel Patrick J. Callahan was sworn in on October 31, 2017, as the 14th Colonel of the New Jersey State Police. He has served more than 28 years with the New Jersey State Police and as the State Director of the Office of Emergency Management, also serves as a member of the New Jersey Coronavirus Task force established by Governor Murphy in February of 2020. He previously served as the Deputy Superintendent of Operations overseeing nearly 1,800 road troopers assigned to State Police stations throughout the State. Prior to this assignment, Colonel Callahan served as the Deputy Superintendent of Administration. Previous assignments also included him serving as the Commanding Officer of the Emergency Management Section as well as the Recovery Bureau Chief in the wake of Super Storm Sandy. In this role, he was responsible for working with FEMA, all State Departments, county, and local government entities, as well as the Governor's Office of Recovery and Rebuilding to administer and oversee the $1.5 billion in FEMA Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation funding awarded to the State.

Colonel Callahan has also served as the Chief Financial Officer for the New Jersey State Police and has held various assignments in the Administration Section overseeing budget and fiscal responsibilities associated with the Division. He was also assigned to the Homeland Security Branch and assisted in the planning and distribution of the federal homeland security funding awarded to the State and its 21 counties in the wake of 9/11. Prior to this assignment, Colonel Callahan served as a station detective and general road duty Trooper.

Colonel Callahan earned a Master's Degree in Administrative Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University and earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Villanova University. He is a graduate of the 243rd FBI National Academy Session where he was elected Session President. Colonel Callahan also served as the Chairman of the State Police Retirement System Pension Board of Trustees until his recent appointment to Colonel on November 1, 2017.

He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Linda, for 33 years and they have four children and three grandchildren.

What are our Valor & Meritorious Awards?

The Valor & Meritorious Awards Celebration recognizes outstanding service of first responders. Those whose lives are placed in danger receive the Award of Valor. Those who perform above and beyond the call of duty, but are not actually placed in danger, receive an Award for Meritorious Service.

Each year, police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians gather to celebrate the lives they have saved, to win accolades from The 200 Club of Morris County, and tell stories worthy of the best police and fire dramas television has to offer.

Each January, Valor and Meritorious candidate recommendations are presented to The 200 Club of Morris County by our Public Safety VIP Liaisons, the:

  • President of the Morris County Police Chiefs Association

  • Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police

  • President of the Morris County Alliance of Active Fire Chiefs

  • President of the Morris County EMS Alliance

  • Director of the Morris County Office of Emergency Management

When this year’s honorees are selected, they will be announced through our e-communications, on social media and on this webpage.

Nominations must be submitted through the appropriate above-mentioned channels within each public safety agency. The 200 Club of Morris County accepts nominations specifically and solely from the representatives listed above.

An act of Valor is an extraordinary event in which a person put his or her own safety aside. It is an act of extraordinary courage, which went beyond the call of duty. Very often, one's life is at risk.

The Meritorious Award is a second level of recognition, which differs from Valor in that a person has performed an extraordinary act, but their actions did not necessarily place their well-being or life at risk. Meritorious awards recognize individuals whose professional or volunteer activity rises above the expected norm for their profession.