The organization each year honors men and women in this area’s emergency services agencies deemed to have gone “above and beyond” the call of duty in the past year.
Special tributes will be made to the Chattanooga Police Department and Sgt. Tim Chapin, who lost his life in the line of duty recently during a reported shoot-out with an armed robbery suspect.
Cleveland 100 will also recognize McMinn County Sheriff’s Office investigators who worked with several agencies, including Bradley County, to help locate alleged suspects in vandalism at the new Cleveland Airport; the suspects in that case were also allegedly involved in dropping a fan motor from an overpass in McMinn onto a bus filled with the Voices of Lee singing group.
Each year, awards are given in categories of Community Service, Dedicated Professional and the Courtney McGrady Award. The McGrady Award is named in memory of one of the Cleveland 100 founders. McGrady was in state and national law enforcement for more than 25 years before his death in 2003.
Founded in 1997 by McGrady and Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland, Cleveland 100 is designed to provide financial assistance to families of first responders who are killed in the line of duty.
Since its beginning in Cleveland and Bradley County, Cleveland 100 has been called to action twice. The first was in 1977 when Bradley County Volunteer fireman Scott Berry died after his fire truck crashed on the way to an emergency call.
In 2008, Lt. Ken Simpson of the Cleveland Police Department died of a heart attack in the line of duty. Cleveland 100 voted to assist the family.
Brenda Lawson, president and a charter member of Cleveland 100, said nominations were made and finalized, and those chosen will be honored Friday.
Last year, more than 200 people attended the annual event.
The recipients of the annual Courtney McGrady Scholarship will also be announced.
Past recipients include the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office’s Bill Dyer, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office’s Robert Starnes, Cleveland Police Department’s Suzanne Jackson and Saundra Denise Johnson, who studied the emergency medical technician program.
