It’s always good to give some recognition to those who serve as first responders. In Friday’s edition of The LaGrange Daily News, we wrote about St. Peter’s Catholic Church holding a Blue Mass for local first responders. Callaway High School’s football team honored first responders Friday night before their game against Opelika High School.

At the Blue Mass, first responders were given St. Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of police, prayer cards.

At the football game, the first responders were introduced on the field at Callaway Stadium and a video in their honor was played on the scoreboard.

These events brought the community together to meet local first responders, giving them a chance to thank the police, fire fighters and paramedics of Troup County.

Responders have tough and stressful jobs. They deal with people whose lives are typically in crisis, from medical emergencies to fires and crime. They see people at their worst moments in their lives. First responders have to make important decisions quickly.

Events like Blue Mass and the Callaway football game show they are appreciated and it gives validation to the first responders’ jobs.