In the Roanoke City Council Chambers

Tuesday we went to the Roanoke City Council meeting. My husband was receiving mention for his 35 years of service with the Roanoke City  Fire-EMS, where he serves as battalion chief.

As a news reporter I have sat through hundreds of meetings in various town halls and county offices, but I'd never been to the city council meeting. It felt familiar and I inspected it from a reporter's point of view, I suppose.




The media always interests me at these things.



City council chambers are a more ornate than I am used to in county meeting rooms and town halls.



The gentleman on the left is Ed Hopkins, who received 45 years of service. He is on the police force. He is with Mayor Sherman Lea and Vice Mayor Joe Cobb.

My husband headed to the podium after his name was called.



My husband would not turn around and face me so I could get a decent picture.

 

The honorees with Mayor Lea.



The City of Roanoke Seal

I am very proud of my husband. He has served the citizens of Roanoke City for a very long time, and he has worked hard to keep people and their possessions safe. He has an important job overseeing numerous fire stations. He has plucked people from raging waters, made sure elderly folks were out of danger, pulled people from car wrecks, stayed up for over 24 hours fighting large structure fires, and otherwise wore himself out doing his job. He should be paid what a football player makes, but of course, he isn't.

He is a good man. Roanoke City has been lucky to have him. I only wish we could afford for him to retire, because he is getting too old to be saving people. Fighting fires is a young man's job.