Donald Teuma-Castelletti
WALTHAM Feb. 10, 2018
New firefighters in Waltham got to celebrate their graduation from rookie status by putting their old designation of “probie” up in flames on Saturday, in a wholly literal sense.
That’s because the fire department probationers – or probies for short – officially donned their stripes at a meal to honour all of Waltham’s unsung municipal employees, and had the opportunity to set fire to the probie tag that has long marked their hooks holding equipment at the fire hall.
Fire Chief Larry Perry said the “burning of the probies,” as he referred to the new ritual, was something he had been plotting for months, knowing it would bring the graduates great joy to rid themselves of the title. Though the four firefighters had graduated their firefighter one program a little while ago, this evening was their official recognition.

“Coming up to the end of the program some of the guys kept asking when they could remove the tags from their hooks,” said Perry. “I told them to be patient. I wanted the fulfilling of my promise [to remove the tags] to be something fun.”
The evening wasn’t just about the town’s firefighters however, as Perry said the meal was an appreciation dinner for all municipal employees that keep the town up and running. Beyond Waltham’s 19 firefighters, five radio dispatchers and all workers from maintenance to town hall staff were invited to attend the catered meal.
“We don’t hold it the same time every year,” said Perry. “We intend it to be annual, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”
Following the meal, it was time for speeches and honours to be awarded, with the big award of the evening, firefighter of the year, going to Ricky Rehel. Finally, all four probies, Gisele Chartrand, Scott Kelly, Jason Pilon and Kevin Pilon, were given their stripes to wear and invited outside to turn their rookie status to ash.