Woodmen honor law enforcement
Woodmen of the World representatives J.O. LeMay and Philip Robertson present a Community Partner Award to Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver.
People may associate the name “Woodmen of the World” with an organization that helps with different financial aspects of a person’s life, but the local chapter of Woodmen of the World wants people in the community to know they offer much more than financial services – they offer community support.
Last Thursday, members of the Woodmen of the World lodge in Russellville honored area law enforcement with an appreciation dinner.
State and local president J.O. LeMay said the dinner was just their way of saying thank you to the men and women who protect the community they live in.
“These people do a lot for us so we wanted to do something for them,” LeMay said. “As Woodmen of the World, our goal is to help the community and be a productive part of the community we live in. Dinners like these help us interact with the people around us and show them we care.”
Woodmen of the World is a provides financial services but the group also provides social and volunteer opportunities that exemplify their commitment to family values, volunteerism, and patriotic allegiance.
Philip Robertson, Woodmen of the World’s fraternal outreach manager for North Alabama, was present at Thursday’s appreciation dinner to let people know being a productive member of society is important to their organization.
“Most of the executive officers in Woodmen of the World are just hometown people, just like the people who are part of the organization in Russellville,” Robertson said.
It’s important for us to be a pillar in our communities and not just a place that says, ‘Hey, come see us when you need financial services.’
“There are 700 Woodmen of the World members in this area and our desire is to be involved, help people in need, recognize others and be a patriotic leader.”
Robertson and LeMay presented a Community Partner Award to both the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Russellville Police Department for the service to people in Franklin County.
“I want to say ‘thank you’ to those who protect and serve on a daily basis,” Robertson said. “I tip my hat to anyone who can do that type of a job every day.”
Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said he appreciated the Woodmen recognizing area law enforcement.
“The only way to have effective law enforcement is to have people work together,” Oliver said. “It means a lot that you would recognize us for the job we do.”
Sen. Roger Bedford, who also attended the dinner, said he would stack Franklin County’s law enforcement against any in the state because he believed in the caliber of men and women employed here.
“This was such a fitting event for the Woodmen of the World to be honoring our law enforcement,” Bedford said. “The Woodmen of the World do so much for the community and so do our law enforcement officials, and I appreciate what they all do for us.”
LeMay said they had a similar appreciation dinner earlier in the year for the fire and ambulance personnel and he hoped to continue to honor groups in the future.
To find out more about Woodmen of the World, visit www.woodmen.org.
