Red Cross honors local heroes
Published: March 17, 2005
As the bagpiper signaled the start of the procession of local heroes into the ballroom at Cherry Valley Lodge on Wednesday, 6-year-old Secoya Bair, of Newark, plugged her ears.
Kayla Duvall, 9, Newark, reached down for the little girl’s hand and helped her lead the line of eight people being honored at the third annual Heroes’ Breakfast for the Red Cross. Reaching the front of the room, the local heroes stood quietly while the audience applauded their accomplishments.
The 2005 Hometown Heroes’ Breakfast honors selected individuals from the community who have gone above and beyond ordinary duty. These people exhibit courage, initiative, compassion, personal responsibility and heroic actions which have saved lives or demonstrated an unusual degree of unselfish character. Each of the heroes served the community either by showing extraordinary courage, making life easier and more comfortable for others or inspiring others.
Duvall, a third-grader at Madison Elementary, received the Youth Hero award for her unselfish act of collecting items for the troops overseas and for the homeless, instead of accepting birthday presents.
Paul Collier, interim principal at Utica High School, received the education award for more than 35 years of dedication to students in several school districts.
Johnny John received the senior hero award for unselfishly serving Thanksgiving dinners to people in need for 19 years.
Licking Memorial Hospital’s Loretta McCollum was honored for her development of the Diabetes Self-Management Training program, Putting the Pieces Together.
Firefighter David Decker received a plaque for his courageous rescue of a victim of a house fire. Six other firefighters received a certificate for their assistance in this act of heroism, including Doug Vermaaten, Tom O’Brien, Vince Wallar, Greg Coffman, Mike Swearingen and Bill Spurgeon.
Secoya Bair received a certificate of extraordinary personal action for saving her grandmother from drowning in the bathtub after she had experienced a seizure.
Rick Grove, 52, of Newark, was recognized for his volunteer work in numerous charities, including Big Brothers/ Big Sisters, serving as a United Way campaign committee member at Owens Corning Science & Technology center and helping the Homeward Bound Humane Society.
Grove founded the Spirits in the Wind charity ride 10 years ago as a way to honor his closest friend, Barry Diller, who died in December 1995. Each year, he organizes the poker run and cooks for the hundreds of people who participate. The event has raised more than $100,000 for the local chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Recently, Grove became an active contributor supplying care packages for many of the Armed Forces in Iraq.
“I don’t do this for the recognition,” Grove said, “although I do appreciate it. I try to give back to the community and help the less fortunate.”
Granville Village Manager Joe Hickman, 47, humbly accepted the workplace hero award for his actions during the recent ice storm. He worked tirelessly day and night to ensure that the community residents and his employees had warm meals, places to stay and safe roads. Hickman helped plow the roads, clear the streets of debris, carried firewood and helped serve food to others.
“It is very humbling when you see the other recipients up here,” Hickman said. “I am pretty sure there are people more deserving than myself. It is just what we (village managers) do.”
The executive director for the local Red Cross, Rod Cook, enjoys hearing the stories of each hero.
“We don’t think enough of these good stories get out,” Cook said. “Again this year, we had some outstanding stories to tell.”
The breakfast also serves as a fund-raiser for the Licking County Chapter of the American Red Cross, supporting disaster relief and financial assistance programs throughout the county, said Board Chairman Lisa Perkey, of Newark.
The breakfast was started three years ago and has grown every year. But more importantly, the event gives the Red Cross and the community a chance to honor these local people who might otherwise go unnoticed.
“For me, a hero is not defined by words in a dictionary, but by actions and intentions,” Perkey said. “A hero doesn’t think about saving or changing another person’s life. A hero just does. A hero doesn’t plan to make a difference. They just do.”
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