Johnston's first responders thanked at special event

There was a special show of appreciation the other day at The Bridge at Cherry Hill in Johnston.

It came in form of an invitation from Jennifer Burns, the facility’s sales and marketing director, who told Johnston Police Major Joseph P. Razza the management staff wanted to say thank you to the town’s first responders.

“You can’t say enough about the management and staff at The Bridge at Cherry Hill for what they did here today,” Razza said last Thursday. “Executive Chef Marvin Carter showed off his talents and really outdid himself with favorites like hamburgers and hot dogs, coupled with his out-of-this-world chicken wings and potato salad.”

The idea for the event, which was co-hosted by Executive Director Maryann Grace, came about a month ago during a meeting Burns held with Razza.

“Jen reached out to me with the idea of having a first responder’s cookout,” Razza said. “She said The Bridge wanted to entertain our police and fire departments and boy she didn’t disappoint on any note.”

Especially since, as the JPD major said “Being a first responder in this day and age can be quite difficult and stressful at times. It’s a calling and a career choice, so you need to remember your responsibilities to your community when you take that oath. So it’s nice to know that people are thinking of you and we all appreciate it.”

Razza, who headed a large delegation of JPD officers who were joined by members Johnston Fire Department, said, “We have a saying and it’s our motto at the Johnston Police, “working together--making a difference” and this community partnership we have with the residents and staff here at The Bridge at Cherry Hill epitomizes this philosophy.”

The JPD Major also said “our fire and rescue personnel do a phenomenal job and we appreciate their efforts and I know they appreciate ours. An outing like this helps us to connect with our JFD brothers and sisters who serve as fist responders. Usually, we only see those people at critical incidents and being able to talk with and get to know them with no outside stresses is a true pleasure.”

Razza then issued a huge “thank you” on behalf of Chief Richard S. Tamburini and the men and women of the JPD saying: “We can’t thank Maryann (Grace), Maddie O’Callahan, Jen (Burns), Kelsi and Chef Marvin for their overwhelming hospitality and kindness.”

“It was a pleasure hosting an event for the first responders – they do so much for the community as well as The Bridge at Cherry Hill. We are fortunate to have the best right here in Johnston!” said Grace.