Linda Becker named Friend of Granton First Responders

By Cheyenne Thomas Thirty years ago, Linda Becker, along with Pat Wolf and Kevin Harris, came together following an accident to take the first steps to form the Granton First Responders to serve the Granton community. On the first night of the Granton Fall Festival this year, the Granton First Responders decided to honor Becker for the important role she played in starting the organization with their annual “Friend of the First Responders” award.

Becker, who recently retired from being an active member of the Granton First Responders, was very surprised to receive the award Sept. 6. The award was announced by first responders Wolf and Janell Walter, who gave some remarks before the presentation of the award to highlight the work Becker had done to help the program to not only start, but also thrive.

“We would like to present the ‘Friend of the First Responder’s award to one of our very own,” said Wolf. “She’s been with the group since the day we started. She was an important part of getting the first responders started. She wanted to see the first responders be successful and she made it happen.”

“She always worked to research how to make the first responders be very effective,” added Walter. “She would share information with the group, passing on her knowledge and skills, helping with fundraising at Fall Fest to help us get money for needed supplies over the last 30 years.”

The Granton First Responders got their start in 1994. Becker said they first came together at the scene of an accident on County Highway 10 just southeast of Granton. At that time, she said, Granton had no ambulance service of its own and had long waiting periods in the event of emergencies in the village and surrounding areas. When the accident occurred, she said it shed a real light on the need Granton had for its own first responder service, and the group was officially formed not long afterward.

“There was an accident on Highway 10,” she recalled. “My son and some other kids got a hold of me and told me about it. The cops didn’t come fast enough at that time, and being a nurse, I knew a lot of stuff. That’s how we started this group. I got ahold of Pat (Wolf) and we both went out there to respond to the accident.”

The informal group soon grew to five members, and they met in the Granton Village Hall for meetings, trainings and other things. When they started, Becker said the group didn’t have a single thing to their name — no equipment, no ambulance, and no formal training. That all came as the years went by and the members put their time, effort and everything they had to spare to build the organization.

“We had no equipment — nothing,” she said. “It took

Please see Becker, page 7

Linda Becker (r) takes a look at the plaque she received from Janell Walter (l) in honor of her service to the Granton community.

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTO

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us three or four years to really get this going. We went door to door to ask for donations to get our equipment. We had to put in the work to have this. Doing the training, putting in the time, it’s important work.”

The importance of the work is what drove Becker and the others to work so hard to start the Granton First Responders. Becker said since they started, she’s seen a lot of members come and go, but those that stay become members of a family that really learns from each other, people who have dedication to helping out those in need no matter the time of day nor the type of emergency.

“When you join, you have to put in the work,” she said. “The good ones, the ones who are dedicated, are the ones that stay. They take part in all the training; they learn from the group. And it is important work. We do a lot of time out on calls. There have been calls where we would be out there for 12 hours. Helping others is a big thing.”

As it was in the beginning, the Granton First Responders remains a volunteer organization that is always looking for new members to join. The group meets on the first Monday of every month at the Granton Fire Hall for training and meetings.

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTO