Though it’s clear that Steven Rice feels honored to be the recent recipient of White Hall’s Volunteer Firefighter of the Year Award, he humbly admits that he feels there were others more deserving.
But his actions and his giving, helpful personality say otherwise. and so do his superiors. After all, it takes a lot of guts to enter a burning building.
“He always puts a big effort in to everything he does,” said White Hall Fire Chief Sandy Castleberry.
“He is always working and helping out. You never have to ask him to do anything because he is already doing it.”
Rice concedes that he was surprised when he heard Mayor James “Jitters” Morgan voice his name in announcing the honor at the chamber of commerce’s awards banquet.
“I had actually nominated someone else and during the ceremony, I was pointing at him, saying, ‘It’s you, man, it’s you, man’ all the way up to the point when Mayor Morgan announced my name,” said Rice.
The type of character traits Morgan was describing could have fit “any of the guys I work with,” said Rice.
So, what’s the award about, and how would Rice describe himself?
“It’s about helping people,” he figures. “It has always been about helping people.
“It’s the positive male influence that has always been in my life from my dad and my grandfather, being raised with the belief that you have to give back what you have been given.
“And I have been given a lot.”
Rice, 25, is a 2002 White Hall High School graduate and life-long resident of the city. He’s worked for the Pine Bluff Fire Department for nearly three years and served as a White Hall volunteer fire fighter four years.
He credits his parents – Bruce and Jina Rice – for his positive outlook.
“I hope my mother takes pride in the fact that I open doors and try to be the gentleman she taught me to be,” he said.
He’s also dedicated as a member of the youth administration team at White Hall First Baptist Church and a director of the White Hall Softball league.
He began coaching at 18, initially devoting two years to T-ball. During the past seven years, he’s mentored the Foster’s Massey Fergeson 16-and-under girls softball team.
Growing up, he “ate and breathed” football and baseball, and the games have influenced him.
“You have to use what you have to put back into the community or there is no community.” Rice reasons.
When he’s not fighting fires, helping to save lives and property, or coaching, he enjoys fishing or deer or turkey hunting.
He relishes visiting schools, maintaining a good rapport with students and simply wearing his uniform. All the while, he’s aware that impressionable eyes are watching him – an honor that carries responsibility.
His long-range goal? Earning the rank of fire chief.
“I know I have years of book work and learning experience ahead of me before that can happen,” he said, adding that a fire fighter can learn more by experiencing one fire than by reading two books.
But he believes his dream can come true because others believe in him.
“It says a lot about everyone’s confidence in me to give me the award,” he concluded.
White Hall, AR —
