Good Samaritans and members of the Londonderry Fire Department were honored by Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Post 5791 in Hudson on May 2. The Post presented awards as part of its annual VFW Loyalty Day and Scholastic Awards Ceremony, intended to honor citizens, students, educators, public servants and others who have made significant contributions to their communities.
Several members of the Londonderry Fire Department, along with two Good Samaritans who assisted the department wee honored.
They are:
• Vinny Curro, a call firefighter with Londonderry for many years. He has taken a leadership role within the call firefighter force and is active with community activities, including blood drives and child car seat safety checks. Recently he was selected by his peers as the 2014 Londonderry Fire Department Support Services Member of the Year.
• Phil LeBlanc, who was selected as the 2014 Londonderry Fire Department Firefighter of the Year. He has been instrumental in advancing the department?s community relations and has helped with or initiated projects such as the Fire Department Open House and school tours.
• Lt. Jeremy Mague, who was recently honored as the Fire Department?s 2014 Fire Officer of the Year. He works on a variety of projects to help maintain the department’s apparatus.
• Cynthia Gieryn, who stopped at a medical emergency on the side of a busy highway and rendered aid until the Londonderry Fire Department arrived. She stopped and tried to help strangers in a time of need, despite the fact that hundreds of other cars passed by without stopping. She used her first aid training properly and put herself in harm?s way to try to help.
• Tommy Martin, who is a second grader at Matthew Thornton Elementary School. He was instrumental in detecting a small fire and properly reporting it to staff members, resulting in the school’s being evacuated and the fire department called.