Beacon Apr 2024

April 2024 THE BEACON Page 5B
GREENDALE
By
Linda
Cromer
Community
Correspondent
O
ur
Communities
greendale@goBEACONnews.com
Whatcha wanna be when
you grow up? You know
you’ve asked it of every kid
you’ve locked eyes with.
Sticky-fingered little hellions
chasing the dog at family
gatherings. Taller-than-you
teenagers surrounded by
pizza boxes and smelly socks
holed up in your basement. I
occasionally ask myself that
very question.
Catch almost any Greendale
youngster at a certain moment
in time and they’ll likely
tell you they want to be a
firefighter or a police officer.
Might be the uniforms.
Maybe the flashing lights on
fast-moving vehicles. The
siren song of, well, a siren at
your command. Perhaps all
those things play a part. But
I suspect the actual reason
is a desire to be somebody
special. Someone who counts.
A hero.
Jeff Lane earned that
distinction during thirty years
of service to Greendale.
We’ve had to tell him
goodbye as he moved on
to a position with the Ohio
County Sheriff’s Department.
The most telling farewells
were little hands waving from
the back windows of school
buses. Kids love Jeff. When
they grow up, they still love
Jeff. His most valuable totem
Two superheroes at
Halloween.
isn’t his badge. It isn’t his
gun. It’s his big, beautiful
heart.
Assistant Chief Lane
participated in his share of
high speed chases and criminal
arrests, but an adrenaline rush
wasn’t why he chose police
work as a career. He will
most miss his weekday school
patrols following lumbering
yellow behemoths loading
and unloading precious cargo.
Idiots sometimes get in a
hurry and think they can blow
by flashing lights and the stop
arm that is used to alert traffic
while kids climb on or off the
bus. Lane made sure drivers
paid attention. Violators paid
a price.
Jeff kept watch over trickor-treaters
in every guise.
Patrolled school lots during
the week and church lots
on Sunday. Kept a keen eye
out at 4th of July events for
cars ignoring barricades and
endangering participants.
He taught preschoolers that
police officers are there to
help when help is needed.
A police cruiser in your
rearview mirror grabs your
attention, sometimes not in
a good way. Spot a shiny red
Asst. Chief Lane waiting for the bus with Greendale residents.
fire truck, chrome sparkling
in the sunlight in front of a
firehouse, and it’s a whole
other story. Drivers slowed
down on Ridge Avenue to
rubber-neck late last month as
Fire Chief Shannon Craig
and EMS President and
Assistant Fire Chief Tommy
Craig did a final check of
outgoing Engine 320. You
could have sold tickets as
folks offered to hop up and
“help.”
The unit served Greendale
and surrounding areas for
thirty-two (that’s right, 32!)
years, operating in support
of firefighters battling blazes
threatening people and
property. Five years spanning
initial discussions of need,
investigating funding sources,
exploring design options,
placing an order, and waiting
for the manufacture and
delivery of a replacement
have paid off. The Greendale
Fire Department was able to
send the oldie-but-goodie on
to serve New Trenton, Indiana
for the token price of one
dollar. Our new Engine 320
is a more versatile multiuse
unit that can support
EMT Nicholson, Fire Chief Craig, EMS President Craig
with new Engine 320.
not only fire suppression
but also vehicle extractions,
water emergencies, and other
critical needs.
Greendale is grateful for
Assistant Chief Jeff Lane.
Grateful to be in a position
to supply our first responders
with the equipment to do
their jobs. Honored to say
goodbye to man and machine
as they move on to serve
other communities as they’ve
served us. Makes us want to
sound a siren and flash some
lights.
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