Exchange Club Presents the First Responders & Citizen of the Year Awards
The Quincy Exchange Club presented their 2018 First Responders of the Year Awards today at a luncheon held at the Elks Lodge in Quincy. The awards were presented to Kyle Dixon of the Tri-Township Fire Department and Cory Fox of the Illinois State Police (District 14).
Gibson showed his love for firefighting as a teenager when he became a member of the Quincy Fire Department’s Explorer Program. After graduating from Quincy High School, he began taking courses at John Wood’s Fire Science program and eventually entered John Wood’s Paramedicine Program. With that knowledge in hand, he went to work for the Adams County Ambulance Service. In October 2006, he was hired by the Tri-Township Fire Department as a paid-on call firefighter. In 2010, he agreed to take on the position of the Department’s EMS Officer overseeing all aspects of Emergency Medical Services for the department. Today, he is the most senior part time firefighter at Tri Township. QFD Chief Joe Henning provided the introduction.
Fox has 13 years of service with the Illinois State Police after serving on the Galesburg Police Department. In March of 2017, Fox and another Deputy answered a Domestic Violence call. Upon arrival Fox encountered the suspect along with the Deputy. A fight ensued and the Deputy was about to be stabbed with a knife when Trooper Fox used his taser on the suspect saving the Deputy from injury or possibly death. Adams County Sheriff, Brian VonderHaar provided the introduction.
The Exchange Club tradition of announcing the Citizen of the Year Award continued with Frank and Cindy Haxel winning the award this year. Both were instrumental in beginning the Back the Blue Project last year. They also organized the Red, White & Back the Blue Festival last summer as well. The Haxels are also involved with aiding PDST victims, military veterans and cancer victims. Lonnie Dunn provided the introduction for this award.
Tri-Township Chief, Tom Bentley handled the rundown of previous Firefighter of the Year award winners and QPD Chief Rob Copley announced the previous Law Officer of the Year award winners.
The featured speakers for the Luncheon were Crystal Correa, an Assistant United States Attorney and FBI Agent Joseph Murphy. Both addressed the increasing problem of human trafficking. Ms. Correa revealed that Human Trafficking is the #3 criminal activity in the world today and as a result a Central Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force has been establish to deal with the problem. Agent Murphy also mentioned that his agency is providing Human Trafficking training for local law enforcement agencies.