Law enforcement officers, firefighters honored by Exchange Club on The Murfreesboro Post

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Law enforcement officers, firefighters honored by Exchange Club

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By: Lisa Marchesoni

Posted: Friday, October 24, 2008 3:46 pm

Law enforcement officers, firefighters honored by Exchange Club | EXCHANGE CLUB

Noon Exchange Club member Tony Dugger and President Rebecca Talley present Firefighter of the Year awards to Murfreesboro Assistant Fire Marshal Nora Smith and Fosterville Midland Fire Chief Steve Walker.

Murfreesboro Police Officer Jason McGee showed “extreme bravery” when confronting a suspect who terrorized a mother and baby when accused of attempting to carjack them April 5.

Escapee Joseph Bennett of Nashville was accused of carjacking a father and son and trying to carjack other people, Murfreesboro Police reported at the time.

Lt. Tom Sissom stated, “Officer McGee successfully apprehended the suspect without injury to anyone other than the suspect and quickly terminated an extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening event.”

For his efforts, the Noon Exchange Club named McGee Officer of the Year. Sheriff’s Capt. Barry Hendrixson was named Officer of the Year for the sheriff’s office. The Exchange Club also honored Murfreesboro Assistant Fire Marshal Nora Smith and volunteer Fosterville’ new Fire Chief Steve Walker as Firefighters of the Year.

Exchange Club member Tony Dugger, who coordinated the program, said the club honored men and women who put their lives on the line every day for the safety of the community.

In his recommendation of Hendrixson, School Resource Officer Commander Maj. Bill Kennedy said the captain has served the county with honor and dedication.

“He is the captain of the nationally recognized School Resource Officer program and is in charge of our Marine Patrol, Y-SAFE program and firearms,” Kennedy stated. “He is the head of our gang intelligence unit and plays a vital role in training our officers, educators and parents on how to identify gang problems in our community and solve it through proactive identification and intervention strategies.”

Smith is on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Public Fire and Life Safety Educator’s Association. She is a board member of the Tennessee Advisory Committee on Arson and a member of the Rutherford County Arson Task Force.

“Nora is devoted to teaching fire and life safety as well as fire prevention,” said Fire Chief David Baxter.

Smith was instrumental in obtaining a federal grant for the fire safe house, built to teach about fire safety. She partnered with State Farm Insurance to build a platform used to teach children how to climb out of a second-story window using an escape ladder, paying for the ladder herself.

“She is the voice of Freddie the Fire Truck, a remote-controlled fire truck used as an interactive educational tool for teaching fire prevention and safety to children,” Baxter said.

Walker served as a firefighter in the U.S. Navy but did not return to firefighter for more than 18 years until last September when he became a volunteer firefighter with Fosterville-Midland Volunteer Fire Department, said county fire coordinator Larry Farley of the Emergency Management Agency.

Since then, Walker, who owns Walker Wrecker and Automotive, took classes in hazardous materials, firefighting, vehicle operations, incident command, arson investigation, medical response, extrication, emergency medical procedures and firefighter safety.

“Steve has taken on many rebuilding projects this past year with both manpower and equipment in the reorganized Fosterville Midland Department,” Farley said. “He has been instrumental in bringing the department to its current status of preparedness. He is a natural leader and well admired by all in his department.”

Noon Exchange Club member Tony Dugger and President Rebecca Talley present Officer of the Year awards to Murfreesboro Police Officer Jason McGee and sheriff’s Capt. Barry Hendrixson.

Tagged under EXCHANGE CLUB

Member Opinions:

By: ItsGood on 10/24/08
Thanks to the Murfreesboro Noon Exchange Club for funding this event to honor our underpaid,under-appreciated firefighters and law enforcement officers.
People may think law enforcement officers and firefighters are lazy but who do you want there when you have a problem or fire - not the city council or county commissioners or the judges.

By: Boo on 10/25/08
AMEN!!!