Back the Blue cookout honors first responders
BY JOHN BRICE
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
VALLEY — First responders enjoyed a complimentary appreciation lunch served up by State Senator for District 13 Randy Price and members of the Alabama Forestry Association at the Sportsplex in Valley on Tuesday, April 28. Hamburgers and hot dogs were grilled fresh for first responders both on and off duty who were invited as honored guests to the community center to pick up their bagged lunch.
“This is an event for our first responders and for us to give back,” Price said. “I want to thank the Forestry Association for being a part of this, coming out and helping. We have so many men and women that give to our communities every day. This is a chance for them to come by and grab a quick lunch, good hamburgers and hot dogs, sit down, rest for a few minutes and then get back out and serve the people they serve every day. I am personally so thankful for all the men and women that we have here in Chambers County that every day are giving back to their community.”
Price said this is the second year this event has been held, and the feedback from first responders has been positive.
“The Alabama Forestry Association goes all over the state of Alabama doing things for first responders,” he said. “We were here last year at the same location here in Valley, and it was a big hit. We are looking for our first responders to come out and have lunch with us here today. We have got a great cook team, they are all people tied with the Forestry Association. They come in, work the grill, they do everything. Our job is to let the people know that our first responders are very important to our communities and we want to do something a little small, something that we feel is very important to give them a good meal today. Some of the guys who just rolled in here are fixing to have to go out for a call, but now they have lunch to go with them.”
Serving rural communities is a unique challenge that first responders face. Price said it is important to recognize the sacrifice made and honor it.
“I think there are a lot of challenges,”he said, “The great thing is that we have people that work as first responders who are willing to look at those challenges and try to figure out what we need to do. We have a great volunteer fire association, then we have our manned fire departments here then, of course, our law enforcement. I have noticed here in Chambers County that everybody works together so well. That is a plus that when you take all of these departments that are willing to come together. At the end of the day, we are all serving one people, that is the people of Chambers County.”
