Local and state officials, first responders, and community members gathered Saturday to celebrate the official ribbon cutting of the new A. James Clark Emergency Services Training Campus on Mistletoe Drive in Easton.
The 7,200-square-foot campus was developed by the Friends of the Easton Volunteer Fire Department (EVFD) to provide shared training space for firefighters, law enforcement, and emergency-medical personnel throughout the Mid-Shore.
“At that groundbreaking, I made a statement over in the fire hall in Station 60 that we were going to build a Taj Mahal here,” said Brett Whitehead, president of the Friends of EVFD. “And if you look around, we’ve obviously built the Taj Mahal.”
Whitehead described the project’s goal as creating a campus “so all first responders [can] train together and then bring those services to all the citizens of Talbot County and the Mid-Shore.”
“We are here now. It’s our job to make sure this campus works and we leverage all of the talents and skills that are here,” he said.
Ed Forte, co-chair of the fundraising committee, told attendees, “Our goal is to raise $5 million. To date, I think we’re at 4.75 —we’re at 4.8 million we should raise up to today.”
“Every dollar that we raised, every hand … shaken, every lunch that we did — we needed everybody to make this work. And as you can see, the end result is fantastic.”
Daryl Caldwell, EVFD assistant chief and construction lead, thanked the many people and organizations involved.
“There’s a lot of people behind the scenes,” Caldwell said. “We’re hoping that this can be a project training center that everybody can train, and we can do the right thing, we can do the wrong thing, we can figure it out, and we can move on. But training is the key, especially in the fire service, police service, EMS service.”
Rich Williamson, EVFD president, recognized the project as “a milestone.”
“This is the result of a simple concept that grew into something meaningful — a dedicated training for us that will keep our community safer and our members better prepared,” he said. “They did it without being paid. Most places do need to be paid to do this kind of job, but … they dedicated it [their time] timelessly.”
Courtney Clark Pastrick, board chair of the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, spoke on behalf of her family.
“What started as a bold idea is now a place that will prepare as many as 500 first responders a year with the training and confidence that they need to meet the challenges of work,” she said. “As you all know, first responders are the steady hand in our most uncertain moments, and the Mid-Shore is so fortunate to be served by such extraordinary men and women.”
Easton Mayor Megan Cook praised the facility’s regional impact.
“This training facility will provide the knowledge and tools to bolster and improve our local agencies, as well as agencies across the Eastern Shore,” Cook said. “The tactics and education received at this facility could very well be the difference between life or death for a friend, a neighbor, a family member, or even a first responder here today.”
U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.-1st, noted federal support through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“USDA does projects like this, funds projects like this, to make sure that our rural areas are not left behind, and we’re not left behind with this facility,” Harris said. “We’re way up front. This is just a state-of-the-art facility that the area needs.”
Construction was led by Willow Construction with design and engineering by RAUCH Inc.
The Friends of EVFD have raised about $4.8 million toward the $5 million campaign goal. To donate, mail a check to: Friends of E.V.F.D., 315 Leonard Reick Drive, Easton, MD 21601.
About the Friends of the Easton Volunteer Fire Department
The Friends of EVFD is a 501(c)(3) organization supporting the Easton Volunteer Fire Department through fundraising, community outreach, and public-safety initiatives. Learn more at eastonvfd.org.
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