
DATE: Friday, November 28, 1997             TAG: 9711280098

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO,STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   67 lines

GRATEFUL FAMILY SERVES TURKEY TO FIREFIGHTERS AN 11-COURSE DINNER ROLLS INTO THE STATION.

In 10 years as a firefighter, Scott Westberry has worked his share of Thanksgiving Days. He has answered nearly every kind of rescue call.

Kitchen fires sparked by overcooked turkeys. Lonely people who call the ambulance just to have someone pay attention to them. Even suicides.

But Westberry said he has never seen anything like what walked in the door Thursday afternoon: an 11-course Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, home-cooked by the Deneau family of Greenbrier.

Shelley Deneau cooked two of everything this year - one turkey for her and her five guests, one for the people who keep her family safe. For six years, she and her family have said thanks to the firefighters at Station 14 by preparing a traditional meal.

``They give to us 24 hours a day,'' said Deneau. ``I can give back to them a little bit of time one week a year.''

Four people were needed to carry in the 18-pound turkey, hot rolls, vegetables, gravy and two pies.

Holidays at the fire station are usually lonely. Before the Deneaus arrived, Westberry and firefighters Carl Brazell and Bob Caughlin had only the sound of a televised football game to keep them company. They had answered two earlier calls - a kitchen fire and a cardiac arrest, Caughlin said.

Brazell, the station's unofficial cook, knew the Deneaus were coming.

``When we got a call for a kitchen fire this morning, I said to myself, `I hope it's not the people who are cooking for us,' '' Brazell said.

Jeff Deneau, Shelley's husband, knows what it's like to spend the holidays away from his family. During his 22 years in the Coast Guard, he passed many Thanksgivings in an isolated lighthouse.

One year, Jeff Deneau said, his parents surprised him with Thanksgiving dinner at the lighthouse. Now, he's returning the favor by taking holiday dinners to different firefighting crew every year.

Brazell said he misses his family, but his fellow firefighters are among his closest friends.

``We don't get to see our real families, but we spend Thanksgiving with our extended families,'' Brazell said. ``We're probably here more than we are at home. We probably work at getting along more than we do with our families. If we get mad at someone at home, we can go out. If we get into a fight here, there's no place to go.''

Chesapeake's firefighters are popular with city residents all year. Residents have named the fire department as the best city service six years in a row. That kind of support makes it easier to work 24-hour shifts, Brazell said.

``Sometimes you don't feel appreciated,'' Brazell said. ``Sometimes it feels like people forget about you.''

The firefighters were lucky Thursday afternoon. They ate their dinner in peace, without being called away on an emergency. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

HUY NGUYEN photos/The Virginian-Pilot

Shelley Deneau watches Chesapeake firefighter Carl Brazell carve the

Thanksgiving turkey that Deneau and her family had delivered

Thursday to the firefighters at Station 14. Before the Deneaus

arrived, the firefighters had only a televised football game to keep

them company.

From left, firefighters Scott Westberry, Carl Brazell and Bob

Caughlin get ready to enjoy a holiday feast. ``We don't get to see

our real families, but we spend Thanksgiving with our extended

families,'' Brazell said.