When trouble comes knocking, who are you going to call?  

All “dad jokes” aside. We know it’s not the Ghostbusters; it’s our friends and neighbors in the community who wake up every day and put on scrubs, gloves or a badge. When we need help, we turn to the front-line heroes in Hartselle and Morgan County who don’t shy away from danger but rather embrace it with open arms. We depend on Candy Roden and her colleagues at Morgan 911, who keep us calm when we’re calling for emergency services, and people like Perry Shands and his fellow patrol officers, who keep our streets safe. We turn to mental health professionals like Caleb Blackman, who help us protect ourselves from the invisible problems that sometimes wreak havoc on our lives. We count on nurse practitioners at our local healthcare facilities who have been fighting this pandemic on the front lines while being there for us when we’re sick – people like Lori Henry, who practices at Cedar Street Primary Care. We also look to those who, like Kelli Morton, are putting their vast knowledge of the healthcare industry to work every day in the school system protecting the children of Hartselle City Schools.  

These are the people on the front lines serving, protecting and sacrificing every day. These are the people we want to honor for their tireless efforts to keep our communities safe from things that threaten us. For their service, we say thank you. 

 Rebekah Yancey