Sirdeaner Walker, a champion of anti-bullying efforts, was among those honored.
03.17.2011 | SPRINGFIELD - Sirdeaner Walker of Springfield accepts an award at the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter 9th Annual Hometown Heroes Award breakfast. SPRINGFIELD - When Davin Robinson came across a man who was about to jump off a bridge, he asked the stranger for "one last hug."
Then the Wilbraham resident pulled the man to safety.
Robinson was one of nine "Hometown Heroes" honored at an annual breakfast held by the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter.
The event drew 580 people to the MassMutual Center Thursday, raising $40,000 in a year in which Red Cross services were stretched to the limit both locally and abroad.
Musician Dan Kane orchestrated high-energy interludes of live music which had people swaying and clapping in time. Waiters sailed by bearing such goodies as waffles, strawberries and bacon.
Touching stories of local heroism were read aloud by Channel 22 personality Sy Becker while images and video about the heroes unfolded on two large screens.
The heroes honored this year are:
John Benerackis, of Feeding Hills, who responded to a car crash outside his home at risk to his own life.
Steve Kowalcyk, of Ludlow, who saved a busload of third-graders when the brakes froze on the bus he was driving.
June Leduc, of Longmadow, who provides entertainment technology and other distractions for children being treated for cancer.
Kathleen Barry, of Wilbraham, a registered nurse who came upon a car crash and saved a man’s life.
Anthony Rodriguez, of Springfield, who was 10 when he took control of a life-or-death situation in the form of his mother's severe allergy attack.
Davin Robinson, of Wilbraham, who stopped a man from jumping off a bridge.
Sirdeaner L. Walker, of Springfield, who has devoted her life to championing anti-bullying programs and legislation in the wake of the suicide of her son, Carl Walker-Hoover.
Nathaniel Lare and Matthew Morgan, both now living in Chicopee, who banged on doors in the early hours of the morning and saved dozens of people from a fire that ravaged their apartment house.