Sterling Fire Department smokes Police at mini golf

STERLING — Admittedly bad golf outfits, laughter and camaraderie were abundant at Mulligan’s Miniature Golf Saturday morning, Aug. 6, for a match between the Sterling Fire and Police associations.

It was a friendly Battle of the Badges competition, and the fire personnel came out on top.

“We have officially won bragging rights for the next year,” the Sterling Fire Department posted in its Facebook page following the tournament. “A special thank you to Mulligan's Miniature Golf for a fun morning filled with laughs and interesting golf outfit choices.”

The Sterling Police Department shared the post on its page and added some commentary.

“Frankly I think the members of the PD were thrown off their game by the outfits worn by some members of FD. I’m sure it was hard to look away,” the post stated with a laughing emoji. “Congratulations again to the members of the FD … enjoy those bragging rights … summer 2023 isn’t that far off.”

Police and fire vehicles jammed the parking lot for the event that SFD personnel Chase and Emerton spearheaded, to which dispatchers, animal control officers, and family members were also invited. Officer Tim Plouffe was joined by his wife, Kara, who wore a "Back the Blue" T-shirt. Their young son, Evan, sported a shirt that read "My Dad Is My Hero.”

Emerton said the last time the two departments went head-to-head was in a softball game in 2018 — which the fire department also won.

“We were trying to redeem ourselves,” he joked prior to the round. “A few years back, fire may have come up on the short end of a similar challenge in softball. We’re hoping for redemption … or at least a worst-dressed award.”

Emerton said they are grateful that Mulligan’s owner Bill McNamara and his wife “have been generous enough to make the course available to us before they open to the general public that day” and provided their round free of charge, which was “very generous and appreciated by all.”

He said the event had a “great turnout and was a lot of fun.”

“We knew fire, police, dispatch and animal control work well together to ensure the safety of Sterling residents,” Emerton said. “Now we know we play well together, too.”

Average stroke totals were 55.8 for the fire association and 58 for the police.

“(It was) a very close match, with the fire department eking out a close victory,” Emerton said. “After some good-natured trash talking, the topic immediately turned to what would be next year’s format. Stay tuned.”

Police Officer Steve Mucci’s foursome included Firefighter/EMT Fil Santos and Patty Blakeney, whose husband is a police officer.

“It's always great for the Police Department and Fire Department to get together in a fun, relaxed environment,” Mucci said. “Often, we are working side by side in stressful, traumatic events. The mini golf outing was a great success, even though the outcome was not in our favor. Special thanks to the McNamara family for the use of the course (and) John Chase and Jim Emerton for their coordination efforts. We look forward to another event in the future.”

EMT Emily Todorov echoed his sentiments, saying “getting together really feels like a family.”

“SFD and SPD are always connected, but getting together off duty is really something special,” she said. “We’re able to take some stress off our shoulders and simply enjoy each other’s company — and, of course, competitiveness.”

The nearly three dozen golfers were joined by more people at a picnic at Deputy Chief David Day’s house in town after the mini golf competition. Emerton said the associations “pitched in” for the picnic spread, which included hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, drinks, and dessert, and that Police Chief Sean Gaudette “brought one of his own delicious smoked briskets.”

“It was a great chance for people to catch up in a non-work atmosphere,“ Emerton said. “Town fire, police and dispatch coverage was not affected by the event. Some on-duty crews were able to stop in at the picnic long enough to grab a hot dog or hamburger in between calls that afternoon.”

Fire Chief David Hurlbut quipped afterward that he has “no comment on the FD coming out on top in this event.”

“We are still recovering from the shellacking the PD gave us in softball a few years ago,” he said. “It’s all about the fun, of course.”

He said everyone appreciated the opportunity to get together out of uniform and simply enjoy each other’s company.

“It was a great time, and I am thrilled that there is such a great relationship between the departments that we are able to do things like this. Too often we are working together at an incident scene, so opportunities like this are few and far between.”

This article originally appeared on The Landmark: Sterling Fire Department smokes Police at mini golf