Frank Lewis | Daily Times

A New Boston Police cruiser leads the way through the ladder trucks of the Rosemount (left) and Porter Township fire departments at Saturday’s Daymar College First Responders parade through New Boston.

slideshow

Frank Lewis

PDT Staff Writer

Each day, in one way or another, we put our lives into the hands of a unique group of people known as first responders. Those people, from dozens of agencies in the area were — for a few minutes Saturday morning — honored for their service to their communities and their nation thanks to Daymar College.

On the front lines of the ceremony was State Representative Dr. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott), who was the featured speaker for an event at Daymar, which followed the annual parade through New Boston.

“We’re coming up on Memorial Day and New Boston has been doing this for a few years now, and it’s sort of like a preview to Memorial Day,” Johnson said. “This is an opportunity to sit back and to honor the folks who have gone on ahead of us. It’s also to honor those who are serving in uniform, and here domestically, those who put on the public service uniforms and try their best to take care of us.”

The parade left the Tractor Supply parking lot at 11 a.m. and traveled east on Rhodes Avenue, north on Vine Street, west on Gallia Street and back over to Rhodes for a final destination of the back parking lot at Daymar where a special ceremony was held.

New Boston Mayor Jim Warren said he was excited to be a part of the event.

“The purpose of this is to honor the first responders — that includes all first responders. That’s including the citizens as well,” Warren said. “Today is National Military Day also. So we’re honoring all of the emergency medical people, all the first responders, by parade, and Daymar is focusing on this. This has become a yearly event for Daymar along with the Village of New Boston. I think it is a tremendous honor to give to all first responders that step forward to give their lives to serve under all circumstances.”

At the center of the event is the Daymar Admissions Representative Mike Bell, himself a Disabled Veteran.

“Daymar does this because we like to get back to the community,” Bell said. “The community gives to us all the time, and we just like to give back, and you’ll see we have 20 campuses in four states, and they all do the same thing. Daymar is part of the community.”

Johnson wrapped up the event summarily.

“It’s a good day to stop, remember, and do the right thing,” Johnson said.

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 252, or at flewis@civitasmedia.com. For breaking news, follow Frank on Twitter @FrankLewisPDT.