Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit

Memorial Stone Ceremony
For
Chuck Witherington
May 24th, 2023

We now fondly dedicate this beautiful headstone that Marg designed in memory of Chuck, realizing that his remains lie not only in this plot of ground but in every heart his life has touched.

Marg decided that she did not want to use a hyphen to separate the dates of life and the dates of Chuck’s passing, so she decided to go with anchors.

The spiritual meaning of an anchor:

• is to stop a ship, stabilize it on the water, and hold it steadfast at its intended location. It's said that sailors believe that anchors serve as a refuge from storms, symbolic of hope for calm seas

• It also symbolizes life, stability, and connection: over time, it was only natural that the anchor became a symbol of love

Marg, your husband, Charlie, Annette, Max, and Emily, your father and father in law, and Josh and Michael, your grandfather was a symbol to those who knew him and the anchor is a fitting tribute to who he was and how he has been remembered, not only to his immediate family, but to his extended family at the Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit.

The anchors, chosen by Marg to forever remember Chuck, goes fittingly with the last words I said at his funeral, which Marg also had etched on his headstone, and I will once again end with here today.

Chuck, your family wishes you ongoing peaceful rest. You are no longer here with us, but you have never been forgotten. You are always in our hearts. Wishing you:

FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS

A few pictures of HBRU assisting at the annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 7th, 2023.

A truck load of garbage was picked on Saturday April 15th up by Beach Residents, thank you to those who participated, also to Matt and Chad for organizing the Community Clean Up.

Save the date for a Community Clean Up of the Beach neighbourhood on Saturday, April 15.
Bags and gloves will be provided.
Meet at the Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit at 316 Beach Blvd at 9:30 a.m.
The Clean Up will be followed by a barbecue lunch shortly before noon.

5th Annual Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit SinkaShip Food Drive

In the past FOUR years collected 10,878 POUNDS , the Beach Strip Community of food and we are Asking our community to donate again in hopes To sink our ship and help our city food bank!!

On Saturday, November 19th, please leave your non perishable food items outside your home by 8:45 am. Volunteers with the Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit will be starting at one end of the Beach Strip with their Zodiac collecting your donations.

You can also drop your donation off that day at the Rescue Unit by 10:30 am. Donations will be going to the East End Food Centre in the Greenhill Plaza.

Thank you to Starsky Fine Foods for their generous donations of the grocery bags for this year's food drive!

Hello everyone,



It is with great and profound sadness that announce the passing of our past Chief Mr. Bill Pennell.



Bill Was Chief from 1980 – 1985, As a child I remember him as a very nice, easy approachable, caring Person, always having time to talk (even when he didn’t). I looked up to him in many ways and he was a mentor to me as a leader. Our unit will miss this great man as much as I will. I feel our unit has benefited greatly and I’m a better person for knowing Bill and having him as part of my life and our unit.



I remember many times, as the sirens were sounding and weather turning bad, Watching as Bill and my dad would be running down to the boats doing what they both loved to do, Save lives.



Information about visitation can be found below.



Bill will be greatly missed!



Charlie Witherington ~ Chief



Markey-Dignity Funeral home - William (Bill) Pennell

Peacefully with his family by his side, William (Bill) Alfred Pennell has joined his sweetheart Betty of 74 years, on Saturday, March 26, 2022 at the age of 93.
Bill was a proud father of William, Phyllis (Rob), Beth (Henry), Glenn (Lori), Jeff (Pauline), Joyce (Dave) and Lynn. Awesome grandpa and papa to 17 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren. Predeceased by his beloved mother Elizabeth, brothers John, Arthur and his sister Eleanor. Bill will be lovingly remembered by his extended family and many friends. Bill retired from Firestone after 37 years of dedicated service. Volunteering and helping others was his passion in life. He was a long-standing volunteer of the Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit for 57 years including several years as Chief, bravely risking his life to rescue others. A man of honour, he was a selfless person who was a positive influence to all he met. Bill made well over 100 blood donations to Canadian Blood Services, a giving, kind man who always had an open door policy. The family wishes to thank the VON, Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit members, the whole team at the Hamilton General Hospital, P.S.W's, Rosemary for the wonderful care and friendship and Martin for being a great neighbour and buddy to "Pops".

Visitation at the MARKEY-DERMODY FUNERAL HOME, 1774 King Street East (at Kenilworth) on Saturday, April 2, 2022 from 1-3 p.m. . Masks are preferred. Donations in honour of our hero to the Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit, City Kidz, Cancer Assistance Program or the Hamilton/Burlington S.P.C.A. would be sincerely appreciated.

Hello everyone,

It is with great pleasure that I can now officially announce that the Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit has won the Hamilton Police Partnership Award.

It is the hard work and dedication of every member within this organization that makes us who we are and I'm proud to work alongside of each and every one of them.

Without each of them, this organization would not be what it is today and we would not be able to assist the residents of Hamilton and surrounding municipalities.

I would also like to thank the crew of this tasking. I know taskings like this are not common and can be very emotional with lasting effects. Everyone on this tasking worked together and were very professional.

As a team, that is how we all work in this organization and because of that, we have been recognized by the Hamilton Police with this award.

Thank you!
Charlie

https://youtu.be/qJ49HNX4T_A

Partnership Award
Hamilton Police Service Community Partnership Award winners
youtu.be

https://twitter.com/HPSCrimePrevent/status/1393238321455894535?s=20

HPS Crime Prevention on Twitter
“https://t.co/c3qGc2V5Dp via Congratulations to the Hamilton Beach Rescue Team for winning the Hamilton Police Service Partnership award. At a moments notice this team is always willing to head out into our waters to assist the community in any way. For this we thank you.”
twitter.com

Partnership Award Hamilton Police Service Community Partnership Award winners

Well for a group that felt left out you sure joined in with a great video. Great work!

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Home.

POCOMAR Push-up Challenge