The Van Buren County Fairgrounds will host the first Van Buren County Hometown Heroes Day this Saturday.
Event Chairman Leo Sochocki said the event is a community picnic that will honor the county’s first responders. Sochocki said the event will raise money for the county’s volunteer fire departments.
“The list is just endless of the number of things, and the cost is astronomical,” Sochocki said. “And we here in Van Buren County, that’s all we’ve got. We have our five volunteer fire departments, and that’s all we’ve got.”
Sochocki said the event will have food, live music, and awards to honor the many volunteer firefighters across the county. Sochocki said he hopes the event can spread awareness to the public of how brave the first responders are on a day-to-day basis.
Sochocki said he learned about the work first responders do after he burned a small outbuilding.
“Finally, we set it a blaze,” Sochocki said. “Within about 15 minutes, I couldn’t be within 30 yards of that. It felt like my skin was melting off. That just set the idea into my head. I cannot believe that these guys, these women, will walk into something like that to save somebody.”
Sochocki said donations will also go towards covering food costs and to fund a small scholarship to be awarded to a local high school senior.
“We are putting together a bit of a scholarship for them if they want to go into one of the first responder fields,” Sochocki said. “Either paramedic, EMT, police, or firefighter professionally, we’re gonna try and give them a little help as a start. If it’s one of the medical sides, we are also buying them a real stethoscope. One that will last them their whole career.”
Sochocki said the event will also feature fire trucks and a helicopter that kids can explore. Sochocki said maybe the vent can inspire some of the youth to become first responders, as the county is in great need of more first responders.
