One local firefighter’s dream of hosting a grand ceremony for all first responders and their families is less than two weeks away from becoming reality, as the Blessing Of The Badges will be held Sunday afternoon during the Heritage Of Flight Festival.
Firefighter Jerry Meddock, who also serves as a department Chaplain, said he brought the idea to the Heritage Of Flight Festival Committee earlier this year to find that they were incredibly supportive of the event. Meddock said he was sincerely appreciative of the committee’s willingness to allow him the space for such a ceremony. He said he expects somewhere around 100 first responders and their families to attend the ceremony, which will be held Sunday, October 4 from 3 to 5 p.m..
Meddock said the idea for a Blessing Of The Badges ceremony came to him last year while he vacationed in Michigan with his family. He said they happened to be there on the weekend that a similar blessing ceremony was being conducted, and he thought the idea would be well-received in Clark County.
During the ceremony, Meddock will perform the blessing ritual, wishing all police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and military personnel a safe year in which they all come home to their families after every call—which Meddock says is not always guaranteed in the line of first response.
“We never know when we start a shift, whether it’s fire or EMS or police work, if we’re going to be able to come home that night,” Meddock said.
He stressed that it is important to welcome all divisions of first responders because they encounter many of the same dangers in their respective lines of work, and also because they often find themselves working the same scenes together.
“I know that Sheriff Kelly has been super-supportive about this event—he emailed all of his deputies and asked them to come—he’s really been promoting it.”
Meddock said he believes that this event will be the only one of its kind in Ohio, saying the closest one he knew about was in Ludington, Michigan, where he initially got the idea. He said he has attended several “Blessing Of The Gear” events in Ohio held strictly for firefighters, but said he felt it to be very important to include all first responders.
After the blessing ceremony, a touch-a-truck event will be held until 5 p.m., where kids can explore the inside and outside of more than a dozen first response vehicles like fire trucks, police cruisers, and ambulances. Meddock said Huber Heights is scheduled to bring their pink ribbon fire engine along with the Pink Ribbon Girls in support of breast cancer awareness. The firefighter hunks from MVR’s Hunks and Ladders 2016 Calendar will also be on-hand to pose for pictures with the ladies in the crowd. A bagpiper is also scheduled to play.
Meddock thanked his sponsors for assisting with the event, naming firefighterwife.com, 24-7commitment.org, and Police Wives of Ohio as instrumental sponsors for the event.
He said he was happy to learn that the Blessing Of The Badges will be held on the National Fallen Firefighters’ Memorial Weekend. On this weekend each year, fire departments across the country are encouraged to perform a tolling of the bell ceremony in honor of the brave men and women who have lost their lives in fighting fires. Meddock said that it is common practice to toll the bells during every firefighter’s funeral, and the custom has spread to a national salute each year as the National Fallen Firefighters’ Association promotes a national tribute. Meddock said that a tolling of the bell ceremony will be conducted during the Blessing Of The Badges to honor the families of the fallen.
During the ceremony, Meddock will discuss the history of the respective badges, noting that all first response insignia are pinned close to the wearer’s heart, and for good reason—stressing that the badges symbolize their respect to serving the community, saying: “those badges are very near and dear to our hearts.” He said that New Carlisle’s United Methodist Church will anoint badges, uniform insignia, and families at the conclusion of the ceremony, adding extra blessings to the men and women who are willing to lay down their lives to protect their neighbors.
Meddock encourages all members of law enforcement and fire and EMS departments to attend the event and to bring their families as well. He asked that all participants park in the IGA parking lot just north of town between 2 and 2:30 p.m.. They will then be bused to the festival grounds, where they will walk in procession to the blessing site.
A special surprise is planned for the end of the ceremony, during which, participants will want to keep their eyes on the sky.
