Pittsville Fire Chief Jerry Minor is WFBF 2022 Hero of Hope

In his years as Chief of the Pittsville Fire Department, Jerry Minor responded to countless emergencies. From house fires to grain entrapments and automobile accidents, Minor is at the center of the emergency, bringing calm and competence to each crisis situation.  

It's really no surprise that the Wood County resident has been named Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Hero of Hope in the organization’s second annual Heroes of Hope campaign.

Heroes of Hope, a subset of the #FarmNeighborsCare campaign, is focused on shedding light on rural heroes who have helped others through a tough time. Heroes of Hope aims to identify people who have helped bring hope to farmers or businesses, either in large or small ways. Members of the agriculture community were encouraged to nominate individuals who have made an impact on the way they conduct business, both ordinarily and extraordinarily.

As stated in his nomination, “Jerry is the person that calms your fears, dries your tears and makes your worst days a little better. For those of us who work in rural communities, he is a Hero of Hope answering the call to serve others in ways we can never thank him enough.”

According to Wisconsin Farm Bureau, Minor has played a significant role in creating a partnership with the National Farm Medicine Center in nearby Marshfield. In addition, Minor is committed to equipping rural Wisconsin firefighters with proper training and equipment to properly respond to rural emergencies.

Minor is passionate about educating areas farmers about safety on the farm and has partnered with area farmers to host hands-on training demonstrations. He is also a strong advocate for youth fire safety education.

Also being recognized as finalists this year are Sara Byl of Polk County, Gretchen Kamps of Lafayette County, Randy Roecker of Sauk County and Brenda Statz of Sauk County.

As this year’s Hero of Hope, Minor will receive $500 cash, a Yeti Cooler, $50 to Kwik Trip and a Culver’s meal package valued at $50. The four remaining finalists will each receive $125 cash, $25 to Kwik Trip, $25 to Blain’s Farm & Fleet and a Culver’s meal package valued at $25. All Heroes of Hope finalists will be recognized in an upcoming issue of Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Rural Route magazine.

The 2022 Heroes of Hope campaign was sponsored by Rural Mutual Insurance Company, The Power of One Agricultural Education Foundation, Inc, Blain’s Farm & Fleet, the Doyle and Kim Pokorny Family, Culver’s, the Ryan and Chery Klussendorf family, the Ashleigh and Josh Calaway Family, Lynn Siekmann and Kwik Trip.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general farm organization representing farms of all sizes, commodities and management styles.