NEWFANE — The Windham County Sheriff's Department recently announced the recipients of numerous awards given on Dec. 14 at its sixth annual awards ceremony.
Sheriff Mark R. Anderson presented the awards to recognize the actions of his staff:
• The Sheriff's Merit Award was presented to Sergeant Dana Shepard who has demonstrated unusual devotion to duty in his assignment performing prisoner transports across the country, within Vermont, and as the supervisor responsible for fleet management between April 2017 and December 2019.
• Deputy First Class David Whittle was recognized as the Deputy of the Year for demonstrated excellence and unusual and continued dedication to the Windham County Sheriff's Department.
• Dispatch Lisa Record was recognized as the Dispatcher of the Year for excellent, unusual, and continued dedication to the Windham County Sheriff's Department and the residents of Windham County.
•Deputy Tim Vinton received the Distinguished Employee Award for demonstrating unusual flexibility, positive attitude, commitment, and professionalism in his work as a School Resource Officer for the Windham Southeast School District.
• The following employees were recognized for their years of dedicated service: Holly Ellis, 35 years; Deputy John Mariano, 20 years; Sergeant Dana Shepard, 20 years; 1SG Robert Lakin, 15 years; Stanley Wasilewski, 10 years; Sgt. Chris Norton, 5 years; and Sandy Boyd, 5 years.