Service above self.

That's the motto of the Rotary Club of Blacksburg and the main qualification for the club's 2008 Pat Cupp/Ward Teel Citizen of the Year Award.

This year, however, the club honored not one resident, but about 40 members of the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad for their service to the community in the aftermath of the April 16, 2007, campus shootings -- as well as the group's 40 years of continuous rescue work.

"Their work is such a wonderful blessing to the community," said award committee chairman Thomas Loflin. "They were some of the first ones on the scene at April 16."

"This group defines service above self, not just on big days, but every day," Montgomery County Emergency Services Coordinator Neal Turner said of the squad he nominated.

"Their professionalism is unmatched."

In accepting the award, rescue Capt. Matt Johnson thanked university President Charles Steger, Police Chief Wendell Flinchum and Vice President for Administrative Services Sherwood Wilson for their support of the squad. All three men attended the lunchtime ceremony held at the Blacksburg Country Club.

Tech Rescue was founded by four students in 1969. Today the 39-member squad runs calls 24 hours a day all year round, Johnson said.

All members are trained in basic first aid and emergency response, and many have higher-level rescue certifications, the captain said.

"We're greatly honored and deeply humbled," Johnson told the group.

The award will "renew our drive to uphold Tech's motto: Ut Prosim" -- Latin for "That I may serve."

The Rotary Club of Blacksburg is primarily a service organization affiliated with Rotary International. According its Web site, the club has given the citizen of the year award since 1990.

On the Net: blacksburgrotary.org