ACTON FIRE CAPTAIN WINS STATEWIDE VFW AWARD.

Byline: KAREN THACKER

ACTON - Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Steve Lindsey has been named the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of California Emergency Service Personnel Gold Medal Award winner for 1996.

The honor is for outstanding men and women who serve their state and nation by their dedication to justice, their understanding of the plight of others, and their sworn objective to protect the rights and property of all people.

Lindsey won the local Post 10606 version of the award, then won on a district level and, most recently, statewide.

``I was surprised,'' Lindsey said of receiving the state award. ``There are a lot of people who do a whole lot more.''

Post Commander Jerry Burns, however, has nothing but praise for Lindsey. ``The Department of California has honored one of Acton's own for demonstrating that the real meaning of service to others is in reality service to God and one's country. . . . He's one of Acton's finest citizens and has demonstrated his valiant efforts in a worthy cause.''

Lindsey served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam as an intelligence analyst from 1969 to 1970 and was one of the first to join the VFW post in Acton when it organized in 1988.

He joined the Los Angeles County Fire Department in 1975 and served as a firefighter-paramedic in Palmdale, East Los Angeles, Canyon Country and West Hollywood.

In 1984, he was promoted to fire captain and served at battalion headquarters and as battalion training officer, serving in Malibu, Santa Clarita and Acton over the next several years.

Since 1993, he has worked in the fire prevention division, supervising five inspectors operating in the northwestern half of the county. He also coordinates the emergency preparedness program for all 300 members of the prevention bureau to assure the readiness of personnel, vehicles and administration sites in the case of future emergencies.

During the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, it was Lindsey who coordinated the distribution of bottled water for the Santa Clarita Valley. In that 18-day mission, ``we developed up to 23 distribution sites and moved approximately 2 million gallons of drinking water through the Santa Clarita Valley,'' he said. ``Because of the unusual situation, I wrote a county procedure guide for bottled water distribution in future disasters and subsequently worked with the governor's Office of Emergency Services to develop a statewide water distribution policy.''

Lindsey notes that, although his background is in firefighting, his role during the 1994 emergency essentially used the same principles of distribution. ``It's still water - we just moved it in a different way,'' he said.

In 1995, he received the Perpetual Fire Prevention Award of Excellence from Master Protection Corp. for demonstration of outstanding leadership and dedication in fire service.

Lindsey has also been active in community groups and his church.

He will be officially honored with his wife, Ulla, in June at the VFW Department of California annual convention in Bakersfield. The honor automatically makes him the California nominee to the national convention of VFW.

LANCASTER - The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce is looking for an unsung hero to sing about.

The annual B.P. Glenn and Unsung Hero awards are coming up, and the chamber is looking for nominations of individuals who have made significant community service contributions.

The B.P. Glenn award is in memory of a chamber manager in the early '50s to recognize his many outstanding contributions to the Lancaster chamber.

Recipients must have been closely associated with Lancaster and active in chamber work for a minimum of five years. The person should be age 60 or older and a resident of the Antelope Valley at the time of selection.

The Unsung Hero Award is to recognize an individual for his or her service to the community or the chamber.

There is no age restriction for this award, and the service may be either community- or chamber-oriented. The nominee should have had minimum recognition in the past and does not have to be a resident of Lancaster at the time of selection.

Nominations have to be in by Monday at 5 p.m. at the chamber office. Along with the name, a biography and other relevant information should be included.

College school students in Kern County should take note that applications are being accepted for the Summer Congressional Internship Program in Washington, D.C., at Congressman William Thomas' office.

Interns selected will spend six weeks working in the Washington office and two weeks working in one of the congressman's district offices in Bakersfield and Visalia.

Students will need to have a junior standing by fall and a minimum 3.0 grade point average and reside in the 21st Congressional District, which includes Rosamond, Mojave, California City and Edwards Air Force Base.

A detailed resume, a copy of their college transcripts, and a 250-word essay on their interest in the congressional internship, their career goals and what they expect to learn from the internship need to be postmarked by Friday.

Send entries to Thomas' office at 4100 Truxtun Ave., Suite 220, Bakersfield, Calif. 93309, attention: Cathy Abernathy. For more information call [phone].