Legacy: Community champions honored
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — The late George Brown lives on through the two winners of the Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse’s fourth annual George Brown Community Champion Award, Alfred Beland and Roy Kitka.
Coffeehouse President Fred Ruhlemann March 3 told veterans, family and friends, “George was very proud of his Army service. He was extremely proud of his service for his country. He was a champion of veterans rights and responsibilities.”
He was also very active in his community, he said. “That’s why we call it the community champion award.”
Ruhlemann said Brown was a quiet guy “but if I said to him ‘George, I need something done’ I never got ‘not now’. George got up and did what was needed.”
Brown’s widow, Pam Brown, said George served in Vietnam and in Germany. “George Brown was my hero in so many ways. He was humble; he was hard-working and he was very real. And when I look at the sea of faces in front of me, you are all my heroes, too.”
Ruhlemann said Brown was probably “looking down on us today and he’s very proud of these two who are going to get the awards today because it’s a continuation of his legacy as a community champion.”
Coffeehouse Vice President Bruce Hay, in his good-natured description of Roy Kitka, talked about Kitka’s Vietnam war era service. “He’s given a lot for this country.” He’s also done a lot for the coffeehouse. Hay, who is also the organizer of the coffeehouse’s monthly Food Share, said “Roy and his wife Linda have helped me tremendously with the Food Share.” Hay said the pair has a “magic touch” with the banana boxes that are one of the cores of their food distribution.
Another Air Force veteran, Alfred Beland, was described by coffeehouse secretary Jim Eccleston as a quick-thinking hero. Beland extinguished a gasoline fire under an F6 refueling station. Beland’s bravery was also cited for preventing a leak in a bomber’s pressurized cabin from causing an explosion at 30,000 feet. And the list of Beland’s community service in the Webster-Dudley area is very long. One of his biggest accomplishments was making sure there was a military veterans memorial.
The words on the plaques: “For his great love of his family and friends, his country, his church and his community.”
George Brown lives on through Beland and Kitka.
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Honored
The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse last week honored two veterans with the George Brown Community Champion Award. This was the fourth year the award was made. From left: Alfred Beland, coffeehouse President Fred Ruhlemann, Pam Brown, Roy Kitka and coffeehouse VP Bruce Hay. More photos Wed. night on our FB page. Linda Lemmon photo.