Saturday night the firefighters and their families honored those years with a dinner and presentation of a special helmet.

“Forty-five years is a long time,” said Chief Keith Browder. “He's a very active member. He answers a lot of calls. He's always one of the first for any fundraisers we have here.”

Rheasville is a like a family, Browder said. “It becomes a way life. It makes the department mean that much more to you. Just about everyone in this department is family.”

Smith is part of that family, Browder said. “He's been through about every training this department has seen. A lot of the minutes talk about fundraisers.”

Before the tax district, departments survived on donations, Browder said, and Smith was instrumental in those. “We wanted to do this to show how much we appreciate you.”

Following the presentation, Browder said, Smith, “Is consistently here. He's someone I can depend on. I knew him as a child and looked up to him.”

Jeffrey Shaw, an officer within the fire department, said, “You don't see many people with 40-plus years in the fire department. That's a lot of years.”

Smith grew up in the fire department, which turns 50 next year, before there was 911 and tax districts. “I've enjoyed the department all the years I've been in it.”

Communications has been the greatest improvement, he said. “We went to a hotline telephone that would ring every firefighter's number. We've come a long way.”

He remembers one of the early tankers was pulled out of a pasture. “Buddy Powell fixed it up for us.”

Smith didn't know the dinner Saturday was for him until the last-minute. “I wasn't expecting anything like this.”