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Middlebury Volunteer Ambulance Association Celebrates 40 Years Of Service And A New Facility

photo provided The new MVAA Ambulance Association welcomes all to its Open House on Sunday, September 19th from 11-3 on Collins Drive, next to Porter Hospital.

Tuesday September 14, 2010

By Cookie Steponaitis

    Most of us realize in the back of our minds that there is more to the Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Squads than meets the eye. Some of us have been fortunate enough to hear their sirens when we needed them, see their smiling faces, and benefit from their prompt and professional service in a time of crisis or need. Some of us have praised members who serve and for the majority of us that is our knowledge of how a rescue association works or changes. On Sunday, September 19th from 11:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. the Middlebury Volunteer Ambulance Association (MVAA) is hosting their Open House and 40th Year Celebration at their new quarters on Collin Drive by Porter Hospital. In addition to tours, music, food, displays, demonstrations, and the formal dedication of the facility, there will be the opportunity to see, learn and understand the heart, dedication and precision with which MVAA functions.

    Founded in November 1970 by concerned community members and business owners, the first MVAA ambulance was donated by a local funeral home and the organization began responding to calls from the Old Sheriff’s garage location on Court Street. On hand at the celebration will be George “Wedge” Murdock, who was a member of the original group and with forty years of continual service remains the longest serving volunteer on MVAA.

        Leading some of the tours and sharing insight into this remarkable organization, Chief Operations Officer Bill Edson points out that this new facility is really the culmination of dreams, planning and realizations of the growing demands and needs of the group.

     “When MVAA started,” remarked Bill, “we responded to about three hundred calls a year. We currently respond to 1700 calls a year and with our 26 volunteer and 16 paid staff serve the communities of Middlebury, E. Middlebury, Salisbury, Ripton, part of New Haven, Weybridge, Bridport, Cornwall, Whiting Shoreham and Orwell. In addition, MVAA is for the first time able to offer the public 24 hours a day paramedics on duty. Only six Ambulance Associations in the state offer this. The celebration on the 19th is not only to showcase the new facility, but to celebrate the forty years of continued devotion, training and diligence of this organization and its partnership with the community.”

    With displays that include a Heavy Rescue demonstration and honoring other organizations that serve in emergency situations including Fire, Police, Red Cross, National Guard and the United Way, the community will be encouraged to enjoy a barbeque at noon and tour the new 12,000 square foot facility. The state of the art plan and building not only utilizes solar and other forms of green energy, but provides room for the ambulances, equipment, training and pays tribute to the efforts of many like Bill Edson who saw each part of the program from idea to plan to fruition. The organization broke ground on the site in November 2009 and formally opened its doors for service in June 2010.  

    The Valley Voice encourages you to not only take advantage of this unique opportunity to see first hand the new building and all of the equipment, but to recognize the connection among the ten towns and 18,000 residents served by MVAA, and the link of the heartbeats of those forty years ago and today who professionally and on a volunteer basis make the decision to serve when every minute makes all the difference. Explore, learn and celebrate with MVAA a new state-of-the-art facility and an affirmation of all that makes the heart of those who serve one of the strongest and most steadfast in the Champlain Valley.

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