I’m excited to share with you that all Brazos Valley residents have an exciting opportunity to say a very special “thank you” to our first responders, sponsored by the Bryan Rotary Club. For one week, Nov. 6-13, when you visit College Station’s Veterans Park, you’re going to see 1,000 American flags displayed, as the Bryan Rotary Club honors veterans and our hometown heroes—our first responders in police, fire, and emergency personnel—in a Field of Valor.
For a $50 donation to the Rotary Club, you can reserve a flag in honor of someone you know, or maybe someone you don’t, who deserves special recognition for what they do every day of their work lives. The funds are distributed to various charities by the Rotary Club, and the vision of Americana you’ll see will simply knock your socks off come November.
Please Click Here to Reserve a Flag!
Who do you know that should have a flag? Reserve one for a family member, living or deceased, who’s worn a uniform in service to city, state, or country. We have 911 emergency personnel, answering phones, paramedics, all our first responders whom we are so grateful to see when they arrive on the scene of an accident, a fire, or at our home whenever we call for help. These wonderful heroes deserve our respect, and they deserve their own individual flag.
How can you help? You can visit the Physicians Centre (3201 University Dr. E) or Prosperity Bank (601 E Villa Maria) and tell them you want to “TakeTwoinBlue”! For $50 they will post flags for two local police and fire personnel. There are exciting educational programs for children, plus so many ways you can help (volunteer to help us set up a few of the 1,000 flags!). Join us, won’t you?
There isn’t a day that goes by that someone from our community is not in active military service to our country whose name we know. Similarly, there’s so many more of our residents whose names we don’t yet know who are on the front lines of guarding our country or aiding another country, responding to the call for service personnel to meet a need. In Bryan-College Station and all our surrounding communities, it’s so easy to take our first responders for granted.
They’re always there to respond. All we have to do is pick up the phone and dial 911. Right? Trained emergency operators answer the phone and many times they have to calm a scared child phoning in to ask for help for a parent or grandparent with a medical emergency. Or, there’s a robbery in progress and someone is calling in from inside a hall closet, hoping they won’t be discovered while the burglars rifle through all their special memories. Then, we hope for all of our sakes that we our home is not the reason that someone has dialed for the fire department to extinguished the blazes raging through our rooftop, protecting the immediate neighboring homes, and neighbors, while calming the flames.
Sometimes we close our eyes to what all goes on in our world that is made better by first responders because we don’t want to think about unpleasant things. I know. There are some people who shy away about planning ahead for funerals that are far, far away, or are supposed to be, at least, because no one wants to focus on “what if” and think about the end of life.
That’s why our community members who sign up to volunteer, work, and support our first responders are making an open commitment to outwardly put their lives on the line for our safety. They of all people know the danger they face potentially each time the tones go off and the sirens ring out. Massive amounts of adrenalin surge through their system each time they perform heroic deeds, and they suffer like we all do if someone is beyond saving, despite our best efforts. Not everyone is cut out for this line of work, which is all the more reason for each of us to take a stand and say “Thank you” to someone we know, or maybe someone we don’t know. Among the emergency personnel our Bryan Rotary organization and community will honor are our police, fire, and emergency 911 and EMT/paramedics.
It only takes $50 and you can sponsor two of our hometown heroes with a flag in our Field of Valor for the week of Veteran’s Day. The display will be at Veteran’s Park, and there will be something special, solemn and moving as you drive by, drive in, or park and walk around this vast display of respect and regard. For some of our emergency personnel, it will be the very first time that someone, friend or stranger, says “Thank you.” That’s the part that always causes me to sit and think. How many times do we and can we say “thank you” to someone who puts their lives on the line to protect ours?
Fortunately, this year, we have a chance and it’s right in front of us, staring right at us. Please consider supporting the Bryan Rotary Club Field of Valor this year and thank you for thinking of others at this very important time of the year.
