WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:07.440 The Readyfest has been going on for a couple years now. 2 00:00:07.680 --> 00:00:10.560 The office of Emergency Management started a few years ago. 3 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:14.404 In the past year or two, it's just really exploded into a ... 4 00:00:14.404 --> 00:00:17.022 really, really cool event that really ... 5 00:00:17.022 --> 00:00:21.359 highlights all the first responders and emergency personnel. 6 00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:23.280 I think the ReadyFest is gonna be really cool. 7 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:27.971 I can't imagine any children who wouldn't enjoy getting ... 8 00:00:27.971 --> 00:00:30.267 on a fire truck or, you know, 9 00:00:30.267 --> 00:00:34.958 meeting our first responders and seeing how that works. 10 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.268 And there'll be good food and it's just an opportunity to ... 11 00:00:38.268 --> 00:00:40.239 learn and have a little bit of fun. 12 00:00:40.480 --> 00:00:44.611 And so this Ready Festival is on one level a real ... 13 00:00:44.611 --> 00:00:49.484 celebration of all of those folks who combined make our ... 14 00:00:49.484 --> 00:00:52.238 community that much more safe. 15 00:00:52.720 --> 00:00:56.110 But also I think what's really important about the Ready ... 16 00:00:56.110 --> 00:00:59.139 Festival is the intersection between those first ... 17 00:00:59.139 --> 00:01:01.519 responders and the community at large. 18 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:08.435 And the community can be such a bigger part of how we ... 19 00:01:08.435 --> 00:01:15.116 can be ready for a disaster or a situation that creates ... 20 00:01:15.116 --> 00:01:18.679 problems for the community. 21 00:01:19.160 --> 00:01:21.372 And that can be a weather event, 22 00:01:21.372 --> 00:01:23.159 it can be a man made event. 23 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:27.006 But it's all of those things that combine to create issues for ... 24 00:01:27.006 --> 00:01:30.046 our community that first responders and members of ... 25 00:01:30.046 --> 00:01:32.238 our community can and join together. 26 00:01:33.600 --> 00:01:37.306 One of the first directors for our emergency management ... 27 00:01:37.306 --> 00:01:39.119 department was Tom Hurley. 28 00:01:39.520 --> 00:01:42.448 And Tom, when I think about Tom, 29 00:01:42.448 --> 00:01:46.840 I think about Tom's smile and Tom's. And Tom's. 30 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:51.200 Smile lit up his entire face and lit up his entire person. 31 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:55.840 I think because he was so joyful about the world. 32 00:01:56.160 --> 00:02:00.040 We lost Tom far too early in his life. 33 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:01.640 He died in 2019. 34 00:02:02.360 --> 00:02:07.003 We have an award in memory of Tom and it's given to ... 35 00:02:07.003 --> 00:02:11.878 organizations or to people who have gone above and ... 36 00:02:11.878 --> 00:02:14.199 beyond the call of duty. 37 00:02:14.760 --> 00:02:17.729 Tom is the kind of guy who would, 38 00:02:17.729 --> 00:02:20.698 like, take time out of his day to ... 39 00:02:20.698 --> 00:02:25.722 give you a ride if you needed to easily to come help you ... 40 00:02:25.722 --> 00:02:29.718 change your flat tire on the side of a road. 41 00:02:29.880 --> 00:02:33.400 I was friends with Tom Hurley for 25 years. 42 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:37.556 Met the guy in, I think my seventh or eighth ... 43 00:02:37.556 --> 00:02:41.199 grade gym class and fast friends from there on out. 44 00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:43.756 And yeah, kind of with him the whole ... 45 00:02:43.756 --> 00:02:45.959 way through his whole career. 46 00:02:46.600 --> 00:02:51.113 He had a really early interest in kind of first responder, 47 00:02:51.113 --> 00:02:53.839 emergency management type stuff. 48 00:02:53.920 --> 00:02:56.945 You know, from a young age, 49 00:02:56.945 --> 00:03:00.658 Tom was concerned about people, 50 00:03:00.658 --> 00:03:03.958 circumstances, disasters, 51 00:03:03.958 --> 00:03:08.358 and getting the help that they needed. 52 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:09.968 And he would have, you know, 53 00:03:09.968 --> 00:03:13.255 some kind of walkie talkie situation where he'd find out ... 54 00:03:13.255 --> 00:03:15.562 if there was an accident or some kind of, 55 00:03:15.562 --> 00:03:17.590 you know, situation where the fire ... 56 00:03:17.590 --> 00:03:19.478 department needed to be called. 57 00:03:19.480 --> 00:03:21.338 And Tom would just be like, okay, 58 00:03:21.338 --> 00:03:22.439 yo, I'm out of here. 59 00:03:22.760 --> 00:03:25.670 And he'd throw on his gear, head in the car and go to ... 60 00:03:25.670 --> 00:03:27.799 whatever situation was happening. 61 00:03:27.880 --> 00:03:31.592 It's really been a great honor of mine to serve on the board ... 62 00:03:31.592 --> 00:03:34.840 of the Thomas Hurley public service safety award. 63 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:36.307 So we said, all right, 64 00:03:36.307 --> 00:03:38.122 well, we need to quantify what ... 65 00:03:38.122 --> 00:03:40.518 we're looking for and what we're doing, 66 00:03:40.760 --> 00:03:44.629 and we came up and with four traits of toms that we ... 67 00:03:44.629 --> 00:03:48.305 thought would translate to everyday people, 68 00:03:48.305 --> 00:03:53.238 to everyday life that we would look for in an award recipient. 69 00:03:53.320 --> 00:03:57.104 And those traits are humility, initiative, 70 00:03:57.104 --> 00:03:59.559 altruism, and helpfulness. 71 00:04:00.040 --> 00:04:04.378 The Tom Hurley service award is about those who ... 72 00:04:04.378 --> 00:04:09.718 look out for their fellow man selflessly carve time out of ... 73 00:04:09.718 --> 00:04:14.056 their busy day to come up with ways to watch out, 74 00:04:14.056 --> 00:04:17.838 look out, direct resources to the people ... 75 00:04:17.838 --> 00:04:21.398 in Boone county who need our help most. 76 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:27.048 And this award highlights those who embody Tom's ... 77 00:04:27.048 --> 00:04:31.079 spirit and the selflessness that he had 78 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:33.880 for those who look out for our community, 79 00:04:33.880 --> 00:04:34.920 community members.