The township will host a dedication ceremony at the newly remodeled First Responders Circle at Fasola Park, also known as Deptford Central Park, on Saturday June 24.
The event is scheduled for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a site created to honor the daily work of emergency service personnel. The First Responders Circle has monuments dedicated not just to EMTs, but also to police officers and firefighters from Deptford and other towns.
“It’s a nice little circle,” said Mayor Paul Medany. “We don’t have a dedication to them and they’re out on first call all the time. I think it’s important to honor the sacrifices and work they do on a daily basis.
“People take these things for granted, and we want to make folks aware of what they do.”
Representatives from Deptford’s police and fire departments and its EMS – as well as Gloucester County EMTs – will attend the ceremony. Medany and other members of council will also be on hand to see the name of recently deceased firefighter Jeff Pfeiffer inscribed at the firefighter’s section of the circle. He died in the line of duty earlier this year,
Though the circle also honors the work of police, it is not a specific memorial to the late Robert “Bobby” Shisler, a Deptford officer who died in May from injuries sustained in the line of duty. His loss brought the community together: Thousands of police officers and other public servants – as well as citizens – attended his funeral on May 17 at Rowan University.
Medany noted that the township does have something in mind to honor Shisler, though it has yet to be announced.
“The (First Responders Circle) dedication was planned before Bobby’s passing,” the mayor explained. “The circle is not a specific memorial for him, but we do have something bigger in mind …”
Following the First Responders Circle dedication, there will be a ribbon cutting for a new bike track at Fasola Park’s lower level, with food and beverages to follow.
