Winter 2023/2024 Issue - Magazine - Page 26
We’ll
Take It From
Here
By Karen Schwaller
Our corner of the world lost a hero of sorts, just before Christmas.
Everyone knew him. He was everywhere—working at high school events as a volunteer, and at weekend outdoor
concerts all summer long as a security guard—looking like he meant business. If you spoke to him as he was
roaming around there, he smiled or laughed quietly only if he was being ribbed about something. He appreciated
the conversation, but when it was time to move on, he did so quite officially.
One of the public entities to which he devoted so much of his life was firefighting. He was a volunteer fireman for
an amazing 43 of his 61 years.
Our community gathered to say farewell in a ceremony that took place at a large venue where he had spent entire
summer weekends for so many years. Fire and rescue trucks from every community were lined up in front of it;
trucks from two neighboring fire departments had the ladders extended with huge American flags at the ends of
them, in a show of brotherhood, paying tribute to an incredible lifetime of service.
Swallowing a lump in the throat is difficult.
Firefighters (active and retired) sat together in a large group at the service, honoring their fallen comrade. But the
most striking reality came at the end of the service, when pagers went off in unison, and the dispatch officer spoke
the final words of the ceremony:
