Manassas Club Honors Heroes
by John Beere

The Kiwanis Club of Manassas conducted its 13th annual Heroes Appreciation Awards program Thursday night, November 20th. John Beere, chairman of the program, told the gathering that, "Tonight we give a special thanks for this Heroes Appreciation Night and the opportunity to pay tribute to the men and women who serve our community in law enforcement, fire and rescue, emergency services and related fields." "We honor them for their dedication to duty and to the people of this community," Beere said.

The recipients are pictured right: front row from left, Scott Stallard, Howard M. 'Mike' Perry and Jessica Funk; and standing Don Evick, president, Chris A. Thompson, Dave Ehrhardt, Joe Sutton and John Beere, program chairman.

The recipients are:

• Detective Dave Abbott and Officer Scott Stallard of the Manassas City Police Department. Abbott was cited for his work during summer 2007, when he closed 15 separate burglary cases with the arrest of five suspects. He was named "Police Officer of the Year 2007" by the department. Stallard was honored for organizing, training and supporting Neighborhood Watch groups throughout the city. He has worked extensively with the city's Community Development department by attending meetings and seminars to improve and maintain "quality of life" conditions in the city.
• Firefighter/paramedic Jessica Funk with the Manassas Park Fire and Rescue. Funk was recognized for volunteering and serving as a mentor this past summer with the city's fire-safety summer camp, working with at-risk teens. Because of her participation, several teens now have expressed interest in being a firefighter/medic and have re-quested to ride along with her and observe the career.
• Manassas Park Police Department Detective Howard M. "Mike" Perry. Perry received his award certificate for his effort in suppressing the activity of adults who conduct sexual solicitation of juveniles over the Internet. He has worked nearly 70 internet crime against children cases over a two-year period, in addition to his regular duties as the primary in-house detective.
• Prince William County Police Department Officer Dave Ehrhardt. Ehrhardt received his award for solving a case in which nine youths were arrested and charged with placing objects on the Prince William Parkway that caused several crashes and damage to many vehicles. It took a lot of work piecing the case together and getting the numerous charges placed against the individuals, such as destruction of property, trespassing and littering the highway.
• Deputy Joe Sutton with the Prince William County Sheriff's Office. As part of his duties, Sutton manages the department's "Project Lifesaver" program, in which individuals who have a tendency to wander off are equipped with an electronic device that continually emits a radio signal, letting the department know where they are. To date, the department has had two successful rapid recoveries of a child using this technology.
• Trooper Chris A. Thompson with the Virginia State Police was recognized for going beyond the call of duty. While driving back from Richmond where he had been attending crowd control training, he was outside of his assigned area when he heard a call to assist a Fredericksburg police officer who was attempting to stop the driver of a stolen vehicle. The driver, who had outstanding felony warrants, eventually ran off the road and struck a tree after the police pursuit.
• Prince William County Fire and Rescue Technician II Stephanie Meredith and Technician II Sarah Cooper, who found the Prince William Child Passenger Program in decline. The two, seeing the value of the program, made a commitment to improve it. These employees went above and beyond the call of duty by sacrificing countless Saturdays to revive the program and participate in community-wide safety seat inspections. They have made themselves available on and off duty to assist customers with child passenger safety issues.