HOMETOWN HEROES
Paper: Cedarburg News Graphic (WI)
Title: Ozaukee County - Last May's Hometown Heroes celebration was a way for
Cedarburg and Grafton residents to recognize the efforts of local emergency
personnel in the wake of 9-11. While there are no official plans to revive the
event, Jim Kacmarcik, president of Kapco and founder of Hometown Heroes, said he
has received inquiries about holding another celebration.
Author: Greena
Date: May 19, 2003
Ozaukee County - Last May's Hometown Heroes celebration was a way for Cedarburg
and Grafton residents to recognize the efforts of local emergency personnel in
the wake of 9-11. While there are no official plans to revive the event, Jim
Kacmarcik, president of Kapco and founder of Hometown Heroes, said he has
received inquiries about holding another celebration.
It is important to bring the event back, Kacmarcik said, because of the
"magnitude and specialness" of it. "I don't necessarily think, unless there are
other groups that would help in a profound way, that it would be something we
would do on an annual basis, but I think it was definitely something that was
meritorious and should be repeated again sometime in the future," said Kacmarcik.
Kacmarcik said it is realistic that Hometown Heroes could be held once every
three to five years. The impetus to plan another event will have to come from
the volunteers and donor groups, Kacmarcik said.
"There were many thousands of hours put in to get Hometown Heroes going and
many people helping us," said Kacmarcik. "It was a very big undertaking and we
did it in about a three-month time frame, whereas if you were going to do this
again, you'd want to be planning for it for much longer because it took so much
volunteer effort."
Last year's Hometown Heroes event, which took place May 18 at Firemen's Park in
Cedarburg, was Kacmarcik's response to the 9-11 tragedy. "The whole world,
rightfully so, reached out to the heroes and people of New York City and there
was a tremendous outpouring of help to New York City. I just felt that we have
those types of heroes locally and they've never been recognized in a profound
way," said Kacmarcik. "We wanted to let them know that our local heroes are on
the same playing field."
While the event was intended to celebrate the efforts of local first responders,
it also served a monetary purpose. After deducting the costs necessary to run
the celebration, funds totaling $76,475 were divided among the Grafton Fire and
Police departments, the Cedarburg Fire, Police and Emergency Government
departments and the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Department. Over 7,000 people
attended the event.
Ozaukee County Sheriff Maury Straub said of the event, "We were very
appreciative of the money they were able to donate," said Straub. "These were
some things that we were in need of that did not fit into our budget. Kapco came
through and did a wonderful job putting on that event and it helped us greatly."
Kacmarcik said a lot of people wondered why only Cedarburg and Grafton personnel
were honored. "The simple answer that I gave to people was that I've lived in
Cedarburg all my life and my business is in Grafton, so I consider both towns
home and wanted to do this for these groups," said Kacmarcik.
Though the local focus was very tight last year, Kacmarcik said he would be open
to helping organize a countywide celebration. "The excitement level,
unfortunately, of honoring policemen and firemen isn't as intense as it was when
we did it, so in order to have success and a strong showing, I would suggest
that it be a broader group of individuals," said Kacmarcik.
Interest in making Hometown Heores a countywide event may be strong, but
Kacmarcik also said he had received inquiries from city leaders outside of the
area on how to organize a Hometown Heroes event.
The success of last year's Hometown Heroes celebration was due, in large part,
to the dedication of the school system, Kacmarcik said. "We reached out to
thousands of kids, and of course, they in turn reached out to their parents,"
said Kacmarcik. "I think that the fact that the school systems reached out and
embraced the Hometown Heroes was one of the reasons why it was so successful."
Cedarburg Fire Department: $15,000
Part of the money went toward the fire department's sign on the corner of
Washington Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard and the rest went to help in purchasing
$10,000 worth of intercom head set equipment.
Cedarburg Police Department: $13,175
The money purchased ballistic helmets and shields, a laser speed gun, tazer guns
and gas masks.
Cedarburg Emergency Government: $13,000
Expenditures not available. (see end of article)
Grafton Fire Department: $13,050
Will be purchasing a hand-held thermal imaging camera.
Grafton Police Department: $12,400
Able to buy 8 digital cameras, 10 portable recorders, 1 slow-lapse VCR, new
badges and promotional materials.
Ozaukee County Sheriff's Department: $9,850
Acquired some night vision scopes, come ballistic shields, a storage trailer for
the county shooting range and a stun belt.
Author: Greena
Copyright, 2003, 2004, Lakeshore Newspapers, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Click on picture to see more of the new Unit # 6
This vehicle was purchased for the money raised by Kapco Inc. of Grafton from the Hometown Heroes celebration.
In the beginning this was just a homely looking Snap - on truck, but with all the talents in this organization our Command Post was born.