Wolford, Garver, and Archer retire from the Tri-Valley Fire District

DRESDEN, Ohio – Three Tri-Valley Fire District firefighters retired yesterday with a combined 157 years of service to the Dresden community.

A retirement celebration was held on Tuesday for Chief Harold Wolford, Assistant Chief Jeff Garver, and Firefighter/EMT Carl Archer. The three men were recognized with proclamations from the Muskingum County Commissioners, presented by Commissioners Drake Prouty and Melissa Bell. Wolford, Garver, and Archer say they appreciate the community’s support and the turnout at Tuesday’s event.

“It was kind of a surprise at first for me. Yeah, it’s nice to have the community come out. They’ve always supported the fire department,” said Harold Wolford with 46 years of service.

“Yeah it was a little surprise to me. They had, were doing similar to this for my 70th birthday but this is only the second party I’ve ever been to,” said Carl Archer with 67 years of service.

“It’s very nice. I think they’re going to way too much trouble, but it’s very nice,” said Jeff Garver with 44 years of service.

While reflecting on the decades of service with the fire department, it seemed to be a recent accident that stood out to them the most.

“We’ve had a lot of, over the years, a lot of accidents, a lot of fires, and the most recent one with the Adamsville… rollover was probably one of the more memorable ones,” Archer said.

The three firemen were honored by a radio dispatcher in a tradition called “The Last Call.” The dispatcher could be heard over all of the first responders’ radios in the county, thanking each of them for their service and congratulating them on a well-deserved retirement.