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.