Grapevine Volunteers in Police Service are an invaluable asset to the Grapevine Police Department, and by extension, the community we serve. Their incredible dedication to volunteerism is celebrated annually at the VIPS Awards Banquet.
For one evening these individuals weren’t available for foot patrols around the city, nor were they seated behind the information desk at the Public Safety Building. They instead gathered at the Grand Hall to be recognized for their overwhelming support of Grapevine Police. Their cumulative volunteer hours translated into an extensive list of services they offered to the community. Of the current 57 VIPS who actively participate in volunteering with the Department, more than 15,000 hours were logged in 2023.
Award recipients were honored in three categories, based on the highest amount of hours. Those logging 500 or more hours at the “Gold” level were John Bush, Ray Harris, Keith Haselhorst, Joe Luccioni, Joy Mayo, Ed Peters, Gerald Shannon, and Phil Williams.
Logging 250-499 hours with a “Silver” designation were Mark Adams, Howard Boggs, Lyle Fette, Quenten Goldstein, Beverly Haselhorst, Tom Madden, Jim Mathine, Robert Matthews, Linda Van Zant, Neal Odle, Don Mayo, Jan Preisler, Vicki Taylor, and Ruth Kellam.
Contributing 100-249 hours in the “Bronze” category were Mary Anderson, Charles Barbee, Lydia Blake, Doris Goldstein, Connie Borley, Nancy Boyce, Mary Lynne Davis, Thomas Duncan, Carol Gordon, Charlie Hare, Jason Huang, John Ivy, Ken Lee, Deanna Moore, Darlene Peters, Dave Perry, Ken Rigoulot, Georjean Sherriff, Hans Strayer, Theresa Strayer, Wayne Taylor, and Leah Williams.
Remembered were the late Dick Thompson with a total of 2,008 hours; Phil Vaughn with 8,112 hours; Dave Herrington with 1,573 hours; Colin Cresswell with 3,475 hours; Ernie Urrutia with 2,073 hours. Urrutia was the first volunteer in the VIP program at Grapevine PD.
Thank you VIPS for your selfless contributions to our department and our community.