SPENCER — The Spencer Fire Department hosted its annual Christmas and awards dinner on Monday.

Fire Chief Jay Baker announced the 2015 departmental awards and recognition recipients.

Firefighters Bradley McLawhorn, Angelia McLawhorn and Justin McIntyre were recognized for five years of service with awards.

The Rookie Firefighter of the Year award went to Firefighter Justin Holmes. Holmes joined the department in August 2014, completed his N.C. Basic EMT and Firefighter I and II certifications and began a leave of absence from the department to serve in the U.S. Army in September.

Firefighter Sam Morgan was awarded with the Veteran Firefighter of the Year Award. Morgan retired from the department in October after 30 years of service. He was fire chief from 1999-2002 and served at each level of the department during his tenure. Morgan also played a big part in the construction of the new fire department building in 2001-2002.

The Fire Chief’s Award was presented to Jody Everhart, retired firefighter and former mayor. Everhart was recognized for both his almost 35 years of service with the fire department and his years of service to Spencer as alderman and mayor. He served as fire chief from 1988-1995, including two interim periods in 1999 and 2002, and also served at every level in the department.

John Martin and Stacy Baker, retired firefighters, also attended the dinner and were recognized.

The Spencer Fire Department was organized in 1901 and includes 27 volunteer and part-time personnel. The ISO class 4 department serves the 2.3-square-mile area of Spencer and answered 589 calls in 2014. The department shares mutual aid agreements with neighboring municipal and rural districts within Rowan and Davidson counties.