Search this site

Congratulations to our New CERT Members from Class #14! We had a great 10 weeks together and we look forward to serving our community along with you in 2019! We took pleasure in a graduation ceremony on Friday evening, November 16, 2018 for the members of the 14th Hamden CERT Class. It was our honor to have acting Fire Chief Gary Merwede, State of Connecticut DEMHS Regional Director Bob Kenny, and Hamden Town Clerk Vera Morrison stop by to speak with our new members. Also, thank you to our Active CERT members and the members of Dunbar Hill Company #8 for their assistance over the last 10 weeks! We salute all 17 members of this graduating class and thank them for their loyalty to learn the skills necessary to make a difference in our community!

Congratulations to the 20 Hamden and North Haven CERT Members who completed the 2 day/8 hour Mental Health First Aid class! Thank you to Hamden CERT members Michelle Alberico and Debbie DiLeone who made this class possible, along with Lead Instructor Emily McCave PhD. from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. A special thank you goes out to Falcon Pizza and Giovanni's Restaurant who provided our dinners during this 2-day event. We would also like to thank Hamden’s Dunbar Hill Volunteer firefighters from Station #8 who supported this event by making their hall available to facilitate this training, which helped us enhance our skills and service to our community. The training and certification received will help our members to recognize, support and protect any individual who may be experiencing a mental health emergency. This training will also help our members who will be assisting our community during major emergencies like weather related disasters, operating at an Emergency Shelter or assisting individuals who are impacted by any unsettling incident that may take them out of their customary routine.

The following was written by Bob Freeman Steve Coulon was known by many titles: dad, friend, brother, chief, officer, leader, and teacher. His qualities would be listed as strong, dependable, dedicated, and enthusiastic and believe it or not, sometimes he could even be feisty or aggressive! His aggressions were only to relay his passion for the safety for emergency service members and his vast knowledge of law enforcement, fire service, and terrorism awareness. His only goal was to keep his brothers and sisters of emergency services safe, healthy, and aware of the dangers of the trade. It has been told that you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat children and animals. Steve was a great example of this theory and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him, knew his love of children and his many pets! As a retired member of New York Police Department (NYPD) Steve served in the Traffic Unit as a motorcycle officer and after retirement was brought on board by the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) as a member of the Special Operations Command, Safety Battalion as a Forensic Safety Consultant with the title of Honorary Battalion Chief, FDNY. Steve also served as an Instructor of the Connecticut Fire Academy teaching at the academy in Windsor Locks and at just about every fire department throughout the state of Connecticut. Steve started his emergency service career working as a Volunteer Firefighter in North Branford and also at the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in New Haven and later as one of the first Emergency Medical Technicians serving with Parents & New Haven Ambulance back in the sixties and seventies. He later served as a volunteer firefighter and a fire police officer in North Haven. Over the last few years, Steve volunteered countless hours of training and exercises for his fellow Hamden CERT Members! All of his classes were educational, fact finding and beyond entertaining! ​Many of us have lived our dream of becoming a firefighter and having the chance to work the "Best Job in the World." Some of us have had the honor of coming up through the ranks into the fire officer positions. For some of us, who have been blessed in both of these categories, there was no higher honor than walking into one of the many Connecticut Fire Stations or FDNY Facilities with Steve Coulon and having him introduce me as his friend. It is an honor that will always be treasured and remembered as a gift that many have not achieved. I personally will always miss the rides down to “The Rock” (FDNY Training Facility), Mid Town Manhattan, Fort Totten in Queens and many other stops throughout the boroughs in the City that Never Sleeps. I, along with many other are so grateful that we had the chance to listen to many of Steve’s lessons, encounters, and experiences that would always be humorous, educational, and historical, sometimes even beyond words! I’ll miss the rides to Doogies Hot Dog Stand in Newington, Joey Garlic’s, Modern Pizza, and most of all Jackson Hole Diner in Astoria, Queens. One of his many adages will always stay with me; “If you can’t do your job, get out of the way and go sit on the curb!” I am so thankful and blessed that I was able to experience and grow to know Steve Coulon. I will always be honored that he called me his friend and my brother! “Rest in peace My Brother, we’ll take it from here and meet again up on the top floor!”

We held a graduation ceremony on Thursday evening, April 19, 2018 for the members of the 13th Hamden CERT class. It was our honor to have Mayor Curt Leng, Town Clerk Vera Morrison and Councilman Mike Colaiacovo stop by to speak with our new members. Thank you to our CERT members and the members of Dunbar Hill Company #8 for their assistance over the last 10 weeks. We salute all 29 members of this class and thank them for their dedication and commitment to learn the skills necessary to make a difference in our community!

On Wednesday, February 21, 2018, eighteen Hamden CERT Members came together for our CPR & AED training and recertification. A special thanks goes out to Hamden Fire Chief David Berardesca and also to Training Officer, Lt. Lubowicki who conducted the training. We are also grateful for our team members who came out tonight to learn how to "Make a Difference!"

We are saddened to announce that we lost one of our senior CERT Members last Sunday morning. Mike Johnson passed at home about 2 weeks after receiving double bypass surgery. Mike was one of our more active members even though he turned 90 on July 2nd. We thought of him as 50 with 40 years of experience since he set the pace when it came to work and getting projects done for our team! Mike was a veteran of World War II who served in the Philippines. After the war, Mike played baseball for the well known "Hamden Plainsmen" and was inducted into the Southern Connecticut Diamond Club's 2014 Hall of Fame. Mike was also active with the Hamden Veterans Commission acting as a Commissioner and was chosen the Grand Marshal for the Memorial Day Parade in 2014. Mike was also one of the key members in the starting of the State Street Cemetery Group, helping to clean up the cemetery after many years of abandonment. It was not unusual for Mike and his wife Rita to make numerous trips each week from the cemetery bringing brush and trash to the town dump and helping to make the cemetery more adequate for the many veterans who are buried there. Mike and his family will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers forever because of his many projects and additions he created for our Hamden CERT vehicle. He was instrumental in making small repairs to the interior and always adding the small appliance holders and equipment brackets, key racks, and any other needed additions. One great example of what this man was about is that he converted his homemade house trailer into a Shelter Equipment Trailer and donated it to the Town and his team. This is a major loss for our CERT family and the many acquaintances that Mike has made over the years. Mike will always be remembered and we will continue to share with us the drive and determination to serve our community and be kind to our fellow man along with all of the traits that Mike instilled in us. "Thank you Uncle Mike, Rest in Peace Brother, you will be missed by many!"