Wetzel County Sheriff James Hoskins, right, presents a Special Response Team Award award to Detective Donnie Harris of the New Martinsville Police Department. (Photo by Bruce Crawford) New Martinsville Police Chief Tim Cecil and New Martinsville Police Department Dispatcher Rick Estep, hosted the Second Annual Law Enforcement Dinner on Saturday. Last year, the two decided to have a dinner to show the local law enforcement how much they are appreciated. The dinner is designed to allow everyone to bond, without the interference of the problems of the outside world, and have fun together. The New Martinsville, Sistersville and Paden City police departments, as well as, Wetzel County Magistrates Office and the prosecuting attorney, Wetzel, Tyler, Marshall and Monroe County Sheriffs departments are were invited to attend. Cecil and Estep turned to the hospitality of local businesses to fund the event. Cecil said the support of local businesses helps both departments achieve many accomplishments. The New Martinsville Moose Lodge #931, under the presidency of Rich Erliwine, hosted the event. The Moose Lodge provided the facility and the Coleman’s fish dinners. Local disc jockey, Carman Harman donated his time and entertained the guests for the evening. “Carman provided us with all the fun and laughter we needed,” Cecil said. The children in attendance had a very special guest from the North Pole. Santa arrived and handed out stockings full of goodies. Several awards were given to the different departments. Clay Hupp represented the Tyler County Sheriff’s Department and presented the 2006 Tyler County Sheriff’s Award. The recipient for this award went to Chief Deputy Dean Pratt. This is the first year for the award. Wetzel County Sheriff, James Hoskins, presented several awards to his deputies. Cecil presented two awards that were sponsored by J.W. Potts Insurance and AAA Homes. The first went to Robert Henry for Communications Officer (dispatcher) of the Year. “Henry takes great pride in his job. He is very precise and detailed in his work. Henry is a great attribute to our department.” Chief Cecil said. The second award, the Carl Kocher Memorial Award, went to Captain Mike Thomas. Thomas was just recently promoted to Captain. He scored higher than anyone else on the Captain’s test. Chief Cecil said that Captain Thomas red-handedly caught the person that was breaking into area churches, and over the past three years, has had a few nice drug busts for the NMPD. “It is always hard to choose one person when you have a team of several good, dedicated policemen. I started these awards to give the officers an incentive. Over the past few years, our department has taken some ups and downs and in just the last few months with the bomb threats at the schools and our fight to keep our dispatchers, my officers have shown true dedication and teamwork for our community,” Chief Cecil said. “It was hard to choose one officer when I always have a few that always go above and beyond. I am proud to call myself their chief. I am proud to be the chief of a wonderful town who has shown us much support. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this night a success. Also, a special thanks to my wife who helped make this night come together.”