KERHONKSON – Danielle Kearney-Freer is a force. Anyone who knows the community icon and proprietor of Hot Shotz Pub & Grill in Kerhonkson, knows that she's always working on some way to give back to her community — to be 'Community Strong.'

Now, through her year-long efforts, which spurred local county legislators Craig Lopez and Ron Lapp to act, September 16 is a day set aside for the appreciation of our local heroes, the first responders, from police to EMS ambulance folks, and also those officers in Corrections. In Ulster County, it will now be known as First Responders Appreciation Day.

And so, Saturday, September 16, 2017, saw an amazing street fair, The Festival of Heroes, in "downtown" Kerhonkson. Heroes of various kinds were there. Wonder Woman, Spiderman and Batgirl showed up, and our real-life heroes — police, firefighters, and EMS crews, and also legislators, Lopez and Lapp. It was late in the day when the announcement was made and the proclamation was made public, which drew cheers from the crowd.

Discussing the process she spear-headed and worked to energize, Danielle said, "They were terrific, the best legislators I've ever dealt with. And I'm so happy that we finally have this recognition on our calendars of the work done by our local heroes."

"The success of the festival can be laid to Danielle's hard work," said Lopez. "I had the easy job. I reached out to Chair of the Legislature, Ken Ronk, and to my legislative staff to get out a proclamation regarding the date and the calendar. Then representatives of the first responders came up and accepted a copy of that proclamation on behalf of the legislature."

And so, while festival-goers scouted out the goodies on the vendors' stalls, like the soap made from Damned Good Honey, and kids slid on the glossy yellow bouncy slide, local bands played, and there were demonstrations by emergency services. Even a National Guardsman in the dunk tank. The boy scouts were there, as well as local church groups, the face painters were hard at work, and local politicians were out and about, like Len Bernardo, who is running for Town Supervisor of Rochester, and Terry Houck, who is running for Town Supervisor of Wawarsing.

Everyone would agree that the sometimes dangerous, oftentimes emotionally-wrenching work performed by our firefighters, our ambulance volunteers, and our police and sheriff's deputies, deserves full recognition. Whether its pulling someone from a car wreck with the jaws of life, or spraying Narcan into the nostril of someone dying from opioid overdose, whether it's going into a burning house to bring someone to safety, or averting cardiac arrest, it's our local heroes that we depend on — September 16 is now their day in Ulster County.