Honoring Our Public Servants

Sunrise Rotary Rewards Outstanding

Service to The Citizens of EBR Parish

Policemen, firefighters, Emergency Medical Service Personnel – unless you are one of them or have one in your family – you tend not to think about them much until you need one. When trouble comes, however, they can quickly become the most important people in your life!

There are many trade associations and professional organizations in the Greater Baton Rouge area providing outstanding public service. Certainly not the least among them is Sunrise Rotary, a 20-year-old organization with approximately 135 South Baton Rouge business leaders as members. Each spring for the past seven years Sunrise Rotarians have honored outstanding public servants in our parish.

The club meets for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. each Thursday at Juban’s Restaurant on Perkins Road. The group takes on a wide range of projects each year ranging from raising funds for, purchasing, packaging and delivering thousands of gifts for needy children at Christmastime to sending outstanding students abroad for a year of study on $26,000 scholarships. The only chairman Sunrise Rotary’s Public Service Awards Program has ever had is Charter Member Bobby McCall.

Wildlife and Fisheries

“What I do is really pretty easy,” McCall said. “We used to have five honorees but we now present seven awards since we added Wildlife and Fisheries and the City Constable at the suggestion of several Rotarians.”

The Public Service Awards are presented at a regular Sunrise Rotary meeting. Plaques are delivered into the hands of outstanding performers from the two public service organizations already mentioned and five others: Louisiana State Police Troop A; Baton Rouge City Police; East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office; Emergency Medical Services; and the Baton Rouge Fire Department.

“What I do is just send a letter to the heads of each of the seven departments and ask them to nominate someone from their department who has gone beyond the call in the performance of his or her duty during the last year,” McCall said. “They send me the names of the recipients; I get the plaques printed; and the recipients and their bosses and guests come to one of our regular meetings close to Memorial Day and the department heads present the plaques.”

Color Guard

McCall said he arranges for a presentation of the colors by either firemen or Boy Scouts, serves as emcee, and hands the plaques to the presenters. The program may be simple to administer, but its effect on club members and the award recipients, their family members and supervisors is not.

“Before we’re through there’s usually not a dry eye in the house,” said Sunrise Rotary President E.L. “Bubba” Henry. “These are truly outstanding people who work very hard and who are prepared to and often do put their lives on the line for the citizens of Baton Rouge. They deserve our heartfelt thanks but rarely get it.”

Most of the recipients are individuals who have performed singular acts of bravery or extreme competence. Among this year’s honorees, however, was an entire engine company from the Baton Rouge Fire Department that worked as a team entering a burning house several times to rescue an entire family overcome by smoke.

Very Special People

“The older I get, the more patriotic I become,” said McCall, a former Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. “That’s why I do it. These are very special people who deserve to be recognized for what they do.”

Each plaque reads: “The Sunrise Rotary Club of Baton Rouge 2007 Public Service Award (recipient name and department) In recognition of your dedicated service to the Baton Rouge community as a Public Servant.

“I’m very proud of this program and I’m proud of Bobby McCall for putting it together for us for the past seven years,” Henry said. “This world would be a lot better place if more people learned to say thank you when top professionals such as we have working for us in the public service sector in our parish go beyond the call.

“That is what Sunrise Rotary tries to do each year with this program. We just want to tell them thanks for a job well done.”

Each story of exceptional bravery and/or personal sacrifice is met with a standing ovation from a grateful group of Sunrise Rotarians.

2007 Sunrise Rotary of Baton Rouge Public Service Award Recipients

Baton Rouge Fire Department
Fire Engine Company No. 2

Fire Chief Ed Smith, the department’s ninth chief since it was established in 1872, made the presentation and explained that at 3 a.m. on June 29, 2006, Fire Engine Company No. 2 was called out to 4926 Pocahontas St. Outstanding teamwork resulted in rescue of a 3-year-old girl who was not breathing and her parents from a building totally engaged by smoke and flames. The father was in total cardiac arrest. All survived thanks to excellent search and rescue tactics.

Emergency Medical Services

EMT Paramedic Mike Misenheimer was the recipient this year and EMS Director Pam Porter made the presentation. She explained that her department does not search for superior performance in a single instance when looking for an award recipient. Porter said Misenheimer has been with her department since August of 1998 and that he is a totally dependable, very well liked member of the team of first responders.

EBR Parish Sheriff’s Office
Lt. Steve Young

Presenter Col. Fabian Blanche said a mentally challenged young lady had been missing from her home since 4 p.m. as the temperature dropped steadily that night into the 30s. Lt. Young was in the search group of sheriff’s deputies when he chose to search along the bank of a canal for over 1.5 miles. He found her. She was cold but otherwise healthy.

Baton Rouge City Police
Officer Alessha Biscamp

Baton Rouge Police Chief Jeff LeDuff said he was proud to present a plaque to a former student whose career he has watched since his days as head of the Police Academy. He called Officer Biscamp a dedicated professional who believes in the mission of the Baton Rouge Police Department. He said he is proud to serve on the force with her.

Louisiana State Police – Troop A
Sr. Trooper Samuel O. Latimer

Lt. Frank Ducote presented a plaque to Trooper Latimer because of no single event. He called Latimer extremely thorough, knowledgeable and a great trainer. “Younger troopers call Sam for advice before they call the shift supervisor,” Ducote said. “His career is totally dedicated to service the citizens of Louisiana.”

Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries
Sr. Agent Chad Menzina

Captain Yokum made the presentation to Sr. Agent Menzina who has been with the department for four years. He is a Boating Safety Instructor who handles television interviews for the department is a Field Training Officer. Court TV is doing a program on patrolling the Louisiana marsh and Agent Menzina was chosen to do the program.

Baton Rouge City Constable Office
Cpl. Scott E. Shavers

Col. Reginald Brown explained that the City Police turned over administration of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program to his department. Cpl. Shavers is among the seven DARE officers. Col. Brown said Cpl. Shavers recently told someone “I can’t believe they pay me to do something I love so much.” Cpl. Shavers is a very dedicated officer who is also a trained commercial artist. In addition to his regular duties, he designs publications and book covers for the DARE program on the theme “No Drugs, No Violence, No Gangs.”