Monday, February 22, 2010

PRIDE IN OUR HEROES (A WCHL Commentary)

Hero is a word that gets tossed about loosely a lot these days and many of people see sports stars, media personalities, and entertainers as heroes. But we seem to be confused at times about what a real hero actually is. Calling someone a hero ought to be reserved for very special usage, and for a extraordinary group in our community, it is.

On Valentine’s Day, WCHL had its Village Pride Awards luncheon to celebrate the men and women who were designated “Hometown Heroes” during 2009. Congratulations to these 250 selectees who were each honored for what they do right here in our community. My favorite definition of a “hero” is an ordinary person who does extraordinary things that benefit others. These people were selected because of the extraordinary things that they did in a whole host of endeavors to make our community an even better place to live.

Weekday mornings when I listen to the Pride Award segment, I’m just amazed by all of the different things these selectees from so many different segments of our community are doing to help others in so many different ways. The majority of these people are unknown to most of us, even though we might be familiar with the actions that got them nominated. They didn’t seek publicity for their actions; rather, those who nominated them thought that what they were doing was extra special.

When you listen to the Village Pride Award segment, you can’t help but conclude that real heroes actually do walk among us. If you know one, I bet the folks at WCHL would love to hear from you.