Seven recognized by township commissioners for their long-time community volunteer service By Jim Marsh Special to the Press FRONT-left to right: Honorees Marc Eripret, Dev Kannon, Jerry Royer, Charles Mann, Bridget Eripret, Richard and Patricia Dillman. REAR-left to right: Commissioners James Brown, James Seagreaves, Joanne Ackerman, Norma Cusick, Robert Martucci, Jr. Seven township residents were recognized at a dinner ceremony last Wednesday evening April 27, by township commissioners for their community volunteer activities over many years. Marc Eripret was recognized for coaching Salisbury Youth Association soccer from 2003 to the present, and for other SYA coaching over the same time period. He coached the Salisbury Middle School girls basketball team, leading them to an undefeated season. He will also be the 2001 girls summer league basketball coach. Dev Kannon was recognized for 14 years of service with the Western Salisbury Fire Department. He joined the department as a junior firefighter as soon as he passed the minimum age of 16. He said he was influenced to become a volunteer firefighter after experiencing a major fire at his home as a youth. Kannon has served as the fire company's deputy chief for the last few years, and, since the death of former Chief Jack Kelly in 2009,has been responsible for maintenance and repair of the department's apparatus. He trained through several levels of firefighter certification, including firefighter, fire officer, fire inspector, and driver/operator of both engine and aerial trucks, and as a public educator. He is also an active member of the Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship Church and has traveled out of the country to build housing and health care facilities in Third World countries. Jerry Royer was honored for many years of youth coaching, teaching sportsmanship and sports educations in the township. He also has served for 33 years with the Western Salisbury Fire Department as a firefighter, and in several officer and leadership positions. Charles Mann was recognized for more than 50 years of community volunteer activities. He served as president and in other leadership position for more than five decades in the Mountainville Lions Club. He has supported the club with both time and funding over that period. He is also a members of the Pioneers Club, and has participated in numerous projects to improve local lifestyle and community environment. Bridget Eripret was recognized for nearly a decade of coaching SYA activities. She coached two youth teams for three years, and coached SYA soccer from 2005 to 2009, and last year coached a seventh-grade girls summer league. Along with her husband, Marc, Bridget coached the Salisbury Middle School girls basketball team to an unbeaten season. She has also been a fundraiser for Haiti relief, and served as a classroom volunteer at Harry Truman Elementary School. Patricia and Richard Dillman were recognized for their efforts over many years to establish Jenn's House, along Cedar Crest Boulevard, as a home away from home for the families needing a place to live while a family member undergoes treatment at area hospitals. The Dillman's 17-year-old daughter died in the early 1990s after a bus accident while enroute to a baton and color guard competition with her Salisbury High School squad mates. Jenn was a patient for nine days at the Hershey Medical center before she succumbed to her injuries. The Dillmans were grateful for a place to stay near the medical center that offered home-like amenities. They determined to found a place like that in the Lehigh Valley in remembrance for their daughter. The Dillmans fought the common wisdom that the project was too big to accomplish. After several; years of fund-raising and then finding a home that could be converted into a place of respite, the couple was successful. "Never underestimate the power of a grieving mother," Patricia Hillman said after Jenn's House was established. A second Jenn's house was recently opened in Fountain Hill.