Member Orval Thrasher is a lifelong resident of the Twin Beaches. He joined the NBVFD in 1967. Orval’s inspiration for joining the fire department can truly be considered a family affair. He was dating Sandy Croson, sister of NBVFD legend, Billy Croson, and followed the fire department through Billy. On Orval’s and Sandy’s wedding day, June 10, 1967, the NBVFD just happened to be having a parade. Sandy told Orval he wasn’t going to join the fire department, and Orval, being the dutiful newlywed, joined the fire department in July. The couple will celebrate 59 years of wedded bliss this coming June, followed by Orval’s 59thanniversary with the department in July.
 
The late 1960s and early 1970s were challenging times for the department. Orval recalled his first call, a double wide trailer fire on Stephen Reid Road in Huntingtown. “We had old hand-me-down gear. Unless you were an officer, you got what was on the rack. There were about 25 sets on the rack. On my first fire, I wore a helmet, coat, and no boots.”
 
Orval has responded to thousands of calls in nearly six decades with the department, and when needed, can be counted on to still drive crews. His proudest accomplishment is the enviable record of having four people who can contribute their lives to his lifesaving efforts. He says his greatest reward has been to shake the hands of those four people after being part of the team that delivered lifesaving CPR.
 
Internally, Orval held every rank from lieutenant to fire chief and has been instrumental in the evolution of the department’s marine division and construction of the department’s 40’ fireboat, the Willard Ward. Administratively, Orval served as the department’s treasurer for a period.
 
Orval’s fondest recollections of “the Beach” include how close everyone was in his early days. Most of the fire department’s active members “lived within eleven blocks” of the firehouse at 4th and Dayton, were close in age, and a tight knit group. He’s most grateful that “…the department has managed to put up with me…” for over 50 years, a nod to his well-known plainspoken ways.
 
An avid waterman, incredibly talented woodworker (he restored the wooden ladders on the department’s 1947 antique), devoted husband, father, doting grandfather, and devoted community servant, Orval Thrasher epitomizes the volunteer spirit of the NBVFD, and is an invaluable connection between our past, the present, and the future.