Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, left, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Will Thompson carry a wreath to place at the Public Safety Memorial at the Parkersburg Municipal Building during a National Police Week observance Monday. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Board didn’t have just one example for why he nominated Patrolman 1st Class Timothy Kashorek for the Charles L. Plum Memorial Award for Wood County’s police officer of the year.

On Thanksgiving, Kashorek entered a residence where a man had been stabbed multiple times by his son. Although the suspect was still believed to be armed and in the house, Kashorek applied a tourniquet to the victim’s arm, stopping the bleeding and saving his life, Board said. Then, he and another officer took the son into custody.

Kashorek also apprehended a suspect who’d been fleeing on a bicycle, which turned out to have belonged to a child in the area. He recovered the stolen bike and returned it to its owner.

“He got the bad guy and also made sure the kid had a good day,” Board said.

The list went on, as Board described Kashorek resolving a situation without potentially lethal force after recognizing the shotgun a suspect was holding was unloaded and getting a 4-year-old wandering outside alone to safety before arresting the parents for neglect.

Parkersburg Police Patrolman 1st Class Timothy Kashorek, second from left, poses for a photo after receiving the Charles L. Plum Memorial Award for officer of the year Monday during the National Police Week event at the Municipal Building. Also pictured are, from left, Police Chief Matthew Board, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Will Thompson and Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Blennerhassett Lodge 79. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Kashorek “comes to work every day with a professional demeanor,” Board said. “He is always respectful to superiors as well as kind and helpful to his shift members, expecting nothing in return. It is simply who he is.”

Kashorek, a unanimous selection for the award, said afterward that he was surprised to receive it but appreciative.

“I just come to work and try to do the right thing every day,” he said.

It was one of several honors bestowed Monday during the Police Week event organized at the Parkersburg Municipal Building by the Fraternal Order of Police Blennerhassett Lodge 79. The week is scheduled around May 15, National Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Monday’s event began with the solemn placing of wreaths around the Public Safety Monument between the city building and the Wood County Courthouse.

Retired Parkersburg Police officer Todd Lambiotte, left, receives the Gary D. Deem Lifetime Achievement Award from Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, during Monday’s National Police Week event at the Parkersburg Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Since the first death of an American law enforcement officer in the line of duty was recorded in 1787, there have been 24,067 that have made the ultimate sacrifice, said Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, vice president of the lodge.

“With each of these names, there is a family, an agency and a community that have been affected,” he said.

The Gary D. Deem Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Todd Lambiotte, who recently retired from the Parkersburg Police Department after 28 years. Pifer said Lambiotte served on the S.W.A.T. Team, bike patrol and boat patrol and mentored countless students during his 21 years as a prevention resource officer at Parkersburg South High School.

“The days take forever, and the years fly by. It’s a weird thing in police work,” Lambiotte said as he looked out at the crowd, including at least one officer whose birth he recalled.

Vienna Civil Service Commission President Kathy Stoltz received the Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award. Pifer said she’s served on the commission – which oversees hiring, promotions and grievances for law enforcement – since about 1990, without pay.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Will Thompson speaks during the National Police Week event Monday at the Parkersburg Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

“They do this out of the kindness of their heart and the betterment of their community,” he said.

Stoltz said she appreciated Vienna City Council’s willingness to consider when she and other commission members recommended raises to attract more officers to the department, something she said led other agencies to follow suit.

“You can thank us up there when we were the first,” she said.

The Penny McLain Half Unit of the Year Award – given to an officer’s significant other – went to Kristi Parrish, whose husband Kevin is retired from the Vienna Police Department and the lodge’s treasurer. She was the driving force behind the Back the Blue Bowling Tournament fundraiser in April.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Will Thompson was the guest speaker and was impressed by the camaraderie exemplified at Monday’s event.

Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, left, presents a Fraternal Order of Police Blennerhassett Lodge 79 Citizen of the Day award to longtime local grant writer Toni Tiano during a National Police Week event Monday at the Parkersburg Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

“This is an incredible display of support … for the law enforcement community,” he said.

The lodge also honored multiple civilians with the “Citizen of the Day” award, one for each day of Police Week. The honorees were:

* Wash-Rite Car Wash southside owner Travis Alston and General Manager Tanna Stewart, whose business gives free car washes to law enforcement vehicles.

* Crystal Caudill, with Westbrook Health Services, who has helped get hundreds of people off the streets and into treatment or back to their home area.

* Parkersburg Plumbing owner Bob Bagley, who has contributed financially and provided guidance to local 4-H programs and youth.

Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Board, left, shakes the hand of Parkersburg Patrolman 1st Class Timothy Kashorek after Kashorek received the Charles L. Plum Memorial Award for officer of the year during Monday’s National Police Week event as Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, second from right, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Will Thompson look on. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

* Toni Tiano, whose grant-writing efforts have “brought hundreds of thousands of dollars to law enforcement in Wood County.”

* Kent Welding owner Alan Kent, who supports 4-H and Toys for Tots.

* Cliff Hecker, who started the area Toys for Tots program with his family.

* Fordyce Livestock owner Danny Fordyce, who purchases numerous animals from 4-H participants and also contributes his time.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com

Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, left, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Will Thompson place a wreath at the Public Safety Memorial at the Parkersburg Municipal Building during a National Police Week observance Monday. (Photo by Evan Bevins)