Mitchell County Sheriff’s Deputy Myria Hylemon smiles and loads up her plate Wednesday, May 19 at Fortner Insurance of Spruce Pine while Spruce Pine Police Chief Bill Summerlin reaches for toppings for his burger. Fortner provided a free lunch to local law enforcement officers. (MNJ photo/Laz Aguayo)
Fortner Insurance of Spruce Pine made it a point to thank local law enforcement with a special lunch for local on and off-duty officers on Wednesday, May 19.
Eight local officers, including Spruce Pine Police Chief Bill Summerlin, made the trip to Fortner for a free lunch. The staff at Fortner also fixed several to-go meals for officers who couldn’t come.
Officers enjoyed burgers, hot dogs, soda, chips, tea, cakes, cookies and other sweets.
Fortner President John Hall said originally, the plan was to have separate celebrations for the Spruce Pine Police Department and the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department, but after the event kicked off, he decided to include everyone in one day as there was plenty of food.
“We appreciate our local law enforcement greatly,” Hall said. “We pray for them. We pray for their safety. We wanted to say ‘hey, Fortner Insurance is thinking about you and we appreciate you.’”
In addition to the free food, officers in attendance were also presented with a bookmark containing “A Police Officer’s Prayer” with a back the blue logo at the top.
Fortner Insurance has three other locations and Hall said all three will hold their law enforcement appreciation events in the coming weeks.
“We just appreciate the job they do to keep us safe,” Hall said. “We also feel like in this day and time, they’re not getting the respect they’re due.”