Firefighter/EMT Travis Anderson receives a big thank you (in the form of home-baked cookies) from incoming Sequim Association of Realtors President Heidi Hansen and event coordinator Cindy Smith. The Realtors Association was helping mark “First Responders Day,” Tuesday, Nov. 30. First Responders Day was established this year by Gov. Christine Gregoire. Photo submitted by Neil Culbertson 

by MARK ST.J. COUHIG

Sequim Gazette

To show their appreciation for local heroes, the Sequim Association of Realtors fully participated in “First Responders Day,” established this year by  Gov. Christine Gregoire. The governor set aside Nov. 30 as a day to say thank you.

Bill Humphrey, president of the Sequim association, said his organization has for several years made a point of thanking area military veterans for their service. After Gregoire issued a proclamation calling for a day of appreciation for local responders, “We wanted to do something,” Humphrey said. “It was a way to say ‘thank you’ to those that every day do something for us.”

Volunteers produced cool one-of-a-kind thank you notes — signed by dozens of real estate professionals — to accompany the baskets of homemade cookies and other goodies they delivered Tuesday, Nov. 30.

The baskets were delivered to the first responders at Olympic Ambulance, Sequim Police Department, Clallam County Fire District 3 and the Washington State Patrol.

Clallam County Fire Chief Steve Vogel said the recognition is welcome. “I think it’s more for law enforcement, but we got lucky.”

The volunteers provided enough cookies for 150 of the first responders — about “40 dozen cookies,” said Cindy Smith, an escrow assistant at Clallam Title Company who volunteered to coordinate the effort.

Nov. 29 marked the one-year anniversary of the shooting deaths of four Lakewood police officers. In the wake of that tragedy, Gregoire signed a proclamation declaring Nov. 30, 2010, a “Day of

Appreciation” for the state of Washington’s first responders. The governor said the day should serve as an opportunity to say thank you to the police, fire and other emergency personnel who serve the community.

Vogel said, “It’s kind of a happy thing, but it’s sad, too, because you have to recall those guys at Lakewood.”