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Service Is A Family Affair Meet David And Mary Harrison

Dave & Mary Harrison are a couple that serves the nation and community on so many different levels. Working together and on their own, each has found places in the community to benefit from their efforts and they encourage all of us to find a place where each of us can help and give back.
photo by Photo Provided
Dave & Mary Harrison are a couple that serves the nation and community on so many different levels. Working together and on their own, each has found places in the community to benefit from their efforts and they encourage all of us to find a place where each of us can help and give back.
As member of the Fire Services, Dave Harrison has served in many key leadership roles and continues to work and train to keep others safe in time of need.
photo by Photo Provided
As member of the Fire Services, Dave Harrison has served in many key leadership roles and continues to work and train to keep others safe in time of need.

Monday May 25, 2015

By Cookie Steponaitis

Dave Harrison served his country in the U.S. Navy from 1957-1962 as a member of the Navy Aviation Division. He chose a career in the Armed Services to receive an education in electronics and serve his country. “I have received skills to make a career in civilian life,” remarked David. “I worked with main frame computers for IBM.” As an incredibly active member of his Bristol Community, Harrison has served as a firefighter, Town Forest Fire Warden, Town Emergency Management Director and on the Board of Listers.  Harrison currently serves as the First Vice Chair of American Legion Post #19 in Bristol and oversees many different programs including the local oratorical competition. Military life helped him in many ways shared Harrison. “I think it develops a mutual respect for each other and teamwork. In addition it offers further education for life ahead.” As Memorial Day approaches Harrison takes a solemn approach to the remembrances and shared, “It is a time to remember those here serving our country and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to our country, respecting all who are protecting our freedom.
    Echoing these sentiments and with a zest for civic engagement herself is Dave’s wife Mary. Joining her husband in 2008 as a member of the Legion Auxiliary #19 Mary Harrison also keeps a schedule of involvement that would make most of us dizzy to follow. The Harrisons as a couple belong to the Red Knights International which is an international organization of firefighters who ride motorcycles and do fund raising for charitable causes and brother and sister firefighters who might need help either financially or physically. They also belong to the Vermont Red Knights State Association and Vermont Chapter IV and the Addison County American Legion Riders who are a group of veterans who ride for charitable causes fund raising and to help out fellow vets who are either struggling physically or financially.
    Mary and Dave were raised in families where civic pride and involvement were learned at a young age and both credit their upbringing and examples provided by family for setting the tone for their own lives. “I guess in a nutshell I thoroughly enjoy making our community and country a better place,” reflected Mary Harrison. “Our family was brought up that way.  My Mom was an RN and the Vergennes City Health Officer. She led by example teaching First Aid and did various things to help all of the city's citizens. My Dad led by example to be patient, loving and kind and would help anyone in need.” Mary, as a member of the American Legion Post #19 is involved with the meals including the large Memorial Day and July 4th cooking. She also helps with life celebration meals after funerals as well as Boy Scout Programs, the Legion Honor Guard and more.
    The couple does not stop there and Mary has been an honorary life member of the Bristol Rescue Squad serving for seventeen of her twenty-four years of service as an EMT-1 and started the Lincoln First Response, which originally began as Lincoln Volunteer Fire Co. Mary served as a dispatcher and currently serves as the public relations officer for Lincoln First Response. Mary, working alongside Dave for more than twenty five years as the Town Fire Warden also served as Secretary for the Addison County Firefighters Association during the years Dave served as President. During the 1998 flood when Bristol was an island for twenty-four hours Mary, Dave and the emergency team housed and fed twenty five National Guard members as well as Lincoln First Response, Lincoln Fire and townspeople who had no way to cook.
    Openly proud to be of the JFK generation Mary feels strongly that, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. I believe in respect for those who have served our country both in the military and those police officers who put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve.  My Godson is a Marine and I am so proud of what he has given for our country. Some of us are older and cannot serve our country in a military way but we can sure make a difference.”
    Whether it was by example from her family or her own incredible career in aerospace that began with Simmonds and ended with her being a part of NASA and serving as the Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Space Shuttle Program and eventually Material Planner and Supervisor for Material Planning on the Shuttle Program, Mary Harrison knows how to get things done. “There were so many wonderful memories of working on the space programs. Our company would adopt an astronaut and we were given patches for each flight,” recollected Mary. “My two youngest grandsons are enthralled with the space program and have the sticky patches as a memento. They are also very interested in space flight as is their father. Their dad is a friend of Dr. Christopher Craft, Apollo Mission Control and he was invited to join Dr. Craft to celebrate his 90th birthday a year ago.  The older of these two grand boys Joshua designed a spacecraft and his drawing was sent to Dr. Craft and they had a conference call to discuss his designs and thoughts. He's only five and Dr. Craft told him that he had more ingenuity than most adults Dr. Craft knew and he would hire him if he had a business in that field.”
    Memorial Day is a special time for recognizing those who have served and given the ultimate sacrifice for Mary Harrison and her husband Dave.  Mary spoke about one of her neighbors who deployed to Vietnam and to this day is still listed as Missing in Action. Called to action in their own lives and in their own communities, the Harrisons’ are a couple who set no limits on how they can improve the lives of others. The pair has staggering hours of community service and years of dedication and commitment to key community missions and programs. Together they serve as a reminder to all citizens that it is not a question of wanting to serve but simply making the commitment and time will be found.
    So as the flags fly, the bands play and the parades move past us this Memorial Day there are many layers of praise that need to be given. For those who serve in uniform and serve out of uniform, a solemn thank you. To couples like the Harrisons who manage to be in many places at the same time and never tire of helping others, there is a lesson there for us all. America’s greatest gifts and birthrights are our freedoms, written in the U.S. Constitution and guarded day and night by those who serve. Each citizen has the opportunity to find ways to give back and many do. The Harrisons would encourage all of us to get involved and strengthen the bond of community, commitment and freedom that is the underpinning of life in America and one we only occasionally stop to cherish and celebrate.


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