Two stalwart members of Cape Elizabeth's fire and rescue forces were honored by the Town Council Monday as recipients of the Ralph T. Gould Citizenship Award for 2003.

Jim and Evelyn Cox, husband and wife who have worked together to serve the town, were presented a plaque in honor of their recognition by Council Chairman Jack Roberts.

"Some volunteer agencies such as hospitals add up the total number of hours served by volunteers," said Roberts. "We do not have a record of hours of those who serve in our community. If we did have such a record, it would be clear that there is no couple in Cape Elizabeth who over the last decade have given more of their time to Cape Elizabeth than Evelyn and Jim Cox."

The couple work together as rescue personnel, Evelyn as captain of Cape rescue and Jim as a longtime driver. "Most other communities in the area now have full time coverage during the day," said Roberts. "It is only thanks to Jim and Evelyn and a few other volunteers that the town has been able to continue the rescue services on a call basis for the last few years."

The Town Hall chamber was filled near capacity during the award presentation. At the end of the presentation a dispatcher could be heard over a pager in the audience offering his congratulations.

Besides providing leadership, recruiting and motivating volunteers and ensuring Cape Rescue maintains appropriate standards, Evelyn Cox has maintained one of the highest response rates to rescue calls over the last decade, Roberts said. "This was during a time when she has had a number of personal challenges when any lesser person could easily have backed away from serving the rescue," Roberts said.

Jim Cox brings two other areas to the couples' repertoire of service. Himself a former Marine, Cox headed the the war veterans memorial committee which restored the war memorial on Scott Dyer Road. He oversaw the movement of the memorial when the school project was undertaken nearly 10 years ago, and has devoted time and energy in caring for it, "from ensuring that the site is well maintained to arranging to have the flagpole illuminated so that the flag may be flown 24 hours per day," Roberts said.

Jim will have even more opportunity to grace the memorial as he takes over the duties of the late Jim Murray, himself a Gould Award recipient, as director of the annual Memorial Day parade and service.

It is the third time since the award was first presented in 1986 that two individuals were recognized for serving the community together, Roberts said.