[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 108 (Thursday, September 14, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S8577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DEPUTY CHIEF CHARLES L. BIDWELL CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF SERVICE

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Deputy 
Chief Charles L. Bidwell of the Brighton, Michigan, Area Fire 
Department, who will be honored for 50 years of fire service to the 
City of Brighton at a dinner on September 19, 2000.
  Deputy Chief Bidwell has been an active or on-call firefighter since 
September 14, 1950. He spent his entire career with the City of 
Brighton Fire Department until July 1, 1998, when the City of Brighton 
Fire Department and the Brighton Township Fire Department merged to 
form the Brighton Area Fire Department.
  Deputy Chief Bidwell is retired from the General Motors Proving 
Grounds in Milford, Michigan. He has held the position of Deputy Chief 
since 1988, and remains one of the most active members of the Brighton 
Area Fire Department. For the past decade, he has led the department in 
alarm response.
  From June 27, 1994 until January 15, 1995, Mr. Bidwell acted as 
interim Chief of the City of Brighton Fire Department. He was named the 
City of Brighton's Firefighter of the Year in 1987, and, at the annual 
conference of the Michigan State Firemen's Association in Ludington 
earlier this year, he was selected as Michigan's Firefighter of the 
Year in honor of this remarkable achievement.
  Mr. President, I applaud Deputy Chief Bidwell on his extensive 
firefighting career and his dedication to the City of Brighton. He is 
one of the State of Michigan's true role models, and I am glad that the 
City of Brighton and the Brighton Area Fire Department have taken this 
opportunity to recognize his many contributions. On behalf of the 
entire United States Senate, I congratulate Deputy Chief Charles L. 
Bidwell on 50 years of service, and wish him continued success in the 
future.

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