Delaware County Person of the Year - Donny VanEtten

Don VanEtten looks up as he presides over this month's Stamford Fire Department monthly meeting at the Stamford Fire Hall. He thought he was posing for an ID photo.

STAMFORD  – It is difficult to find a person who exemplifies service to their community and someone who makes it a better place. Each year we reach out to see who the  greater community has in mind for our Person of the Year, and, as usual, they have given us a good candidate.

This year it is Don VanEtten, chief of the Stamford Fire Department, president of the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation's Board of Directors and dad of four.

VanEtten has been a member of the Stamford Fire Department for 27 years.  He was named a fire coordinator for Delaware County last year and is privileged to be designated "County Car 6" after one of his mentors, Sam Mason. Mason was the source of getting many members to join the SFD and was dedicated to the fire service. VanEtten was  honored to receive Mason's call number. It had not been assigned to anyone else since Mason's passing in 2007. "He is the one who told me I should run for the chief's position," VanEtten said recently. "I didn't think I was ready. I thought I still had a lot to learn, but he told me I could do the job. He had confidence in me and that meant a lot to me."

Mason saw something in a young Donny VanEtten, who has worked his way up through the ranks. He and his good friend, AJ Vamosy, launched their careers in the fire service as junior firefighters in the SFD while they were still in  junior high. Vamosy has also served as fire chief and is a county fire coordinator. The two have a close friendship. Vamosy said his dad, Al Vamosty, who served many years as a line officer and chief and was also a county coordinator, mentored the two young men, along with many of the  senior members of the department. "They helped us along and have supported us along the way."

VanEtten was nominated as Person of the Year  by Josh Sutton, for his dedication to the fire service and the community. 

Sutton lovingly refers to him as Mr. Stamford. "He always supports local businesses and consistently donates to special events or charity events. He also donates a copious amount of time to the community and the county, through his work as the local fire chief and as a Delaware County fire coordinator."

You may also find him playing Santa Claus or standing on the sidelines at one of his kids' sporting events. 

"Donny is a great family man and father, consistently at one, or many of his children's sporting events," said Sutton. VanEtten and his wife, Amber, who is an important part of his personal team, have four children, ranging from a college age student to a 16-month-old and include Paige, Gavin, Bailey and Carter.

Recently, VanEtten was on kitchen duty for the Stamford/Jefferson girls modified softball team, helping at a fundraising pancake breakfast at the fire station. You might also find him scrubbing the bathroom at the fire hall. He constantly reminds members that the fire department belongs to "us all" and that everyone needs to take part in keeping it clean and should take pride in their SFD home. 

"I nominated him because he would be a true asset to any community. I can most certainly speak for others when I say, I'm glad he chose Stamford. He attended school in Stamford, had a business in Stamford, works in Stamford and has raised his family in Stamford. I think people will look back in 50 years and remember Donny and what he meant to the community," said Sutton.

VanEtten worked on a local farm and  held various jobs before becoming a partner in a local furniture outlet, Stamford Furniture, where he and his partners often helped the community whenever they could. He then worked as a security guard at Mallinckrodt in Hobart. Now he is president of the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation Board of Directors where he also serves the community. The Foundation provides grant funding to not-for-profit organizations.

He has served as chief of the SFD for eight years in total. He joined the department in December 1998.

As chief, he encourages people to be a part of  an organization that he believes is a great asset to the community. He invites people of all capabilities to become part of the "SFD family", as he likes to call it. They all provide various benefits to the "family", from shoveling snow from the sidewalks to saving someone's home or life. It is an important aspect for him, to make sure everyone who is a member is  included and are made to feel a part of something special. "I think that's important," he said.

Whether it is making sure someone is checked on and cared for, to making sure everyone gets whatever training they need to attain whatever level of expertise they wish, he is always supportive. He encourages people to take pride in the department and to do whatever they are able to do to help it.

He also believes it is a vital part of the community it serves. He will often say, " I think we need to help out if we can." That could be anything, from packing food boxes for the Christmas Feeling Fund to putting the flags up on 9/11, directing traffic and providing safety for various community events. He believes it is important to get out into the community and support it in any way the department can.

"He is well-deserving," said Vamosy. "He has done a ton for the community just as a firefighter. He has served as a chief officer for most of his years in the department and now he is serving as a county coordinator. That's not to mention the stuff he does with the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation.

He helped people while he was in the furniture business and is a great family man, he is very involved with his kids and their activities. He would give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it," said Vamosy.

He points to the increased enrollment to the ranks of the SFD and said it says a lot at a time when other departments are struggling to gain new members. "His guidance is leading us in the right direction. He always wants the department involved with the community."

Heather Clark, who has been a colleague of  VanEtten's since 2013 at the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation, said he is a respected leader of the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation. "He loves his family, the fire department and our community. I feel very fortunate to work with him and consider him a great friend," she said. 

Diane Frazee, office manager at the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation, said she couldn't find anything negative to say. "He is a generally wonderful person who is easy to work with and for. He's understanding, supportive and caring. He's just very fair minded."

When he came in and Laddie McKenzie retired, she said there was a seamless transition.

She said the other directors admire his drive and his desire to help the community.

Laddie McKenzie is the person who asked VanEtten to join the Foundation's advisory board. "He served on the advisory board for five years and he was a director for five years," said McKenzie. "He had 10 years at the Foundation before I retired.

"I watched him grow up. He had his mother to help him along and she did a good job," said McKenzie. "What he has done in the community and on his own is to be commended. He is supportive of his kids and his involvement with the fire department and his involvement in establishing Headwaters EMS with the help of others is incredible. The Foundation assigned him the project of establishing an ambulance service due to the problems of volunteer services. If they had done that while I was still at the foundation, I wouldn't have known where to start. It was the perfect fit for him.

"I am personally very proud of Donny and I tell him so. He said he watched me over the years and learned from me and how I worked and interacted with people."

McKenzie believes leading the Foundation board was easier for him because he had known the members of the Robinson family personally, which he believes made it easier for him to determine what projects they would approve. Avery Robinson was involved and very supportive of the fire department and the community hospital over the years. "It wasn't that hard a job for me."

"I think Donny is very proud to serve on the Foundation, as I was, and he has handled it very well."

McKenzie said they did interview other candidates for the position at Robinson-Broadhurst. "I can't think of any time over his 10 years there that I was not pleased with the way he handled himself and the decisions he made. He well deserves this designation and I think he will be very pleased to get the honor. The fire department is a big part of his life and so is his family. I am really very proud to be a part of this designation.

No one we spoke to doubts the sincerity or the depth of commitment Donny VanEtten has for the greater Stamford community.