Three Rivers and the surrounding gateway communities are hosting the Third Annual Hero Appreciation Months January–March 2009. On January 23rd they celebrated the local Firefighters and EMS agencies, honoring current and former firefighters and EMS personnel. The attendees were greeted with posters prepared for the Heroes by Jami Beck’s fifth-grade class at Three Rivers School. Additional displays were prepared by Dodie Marshall. The evening started off with honoree Rusty Crain presenting an impressive history of Three Rivers Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Company, which began with the Lady Lions around 1956. There was also classical guitar music by Jesse Belman. Rich and Nikki Crain shared the story of an incident in the 1980s when the ambulance company transported eight people to Kaweah Delta Hospital all at once, creating a “disaster” for the hospital. Current firefighters/EMS personnel Dave Vasquez, Sylvia Diaz, and John Hanggi were among the honorees, and gave their first-hand accounts of the job and shared why they decided to go in that line of work. Steve Sunderland the chief of the Tulare County Fire Dept. talked about the new fire department and how the Three Rivers volunteers outnumber the County’s employees by four to one! Our own David Cooper was there to cover the meeting but ended up being asked to talk about his ambulance company and this magazine! After the presentations, the Heroes were given a certificate for a free nights stay with a hot delicious breakfast at the Three Rivers Bed and Breakfast and a beautiful plaque created by Dave King, a local metal artist. The honorees were: Rusty Crain; Kent and Sandra Owen, who were unable to attend; Dave Vasquez; Sylvia Diaz; and John Hanggi. The next ceremony was on February 27th and the last one it is on March 27, and it is for the Armed Forces veterans. Stop on by to honor these heroes!