Kinnelon OEM Coordinator Named 'Citizen of the Year'

Since 1952, Harry Hicks has been a Kinnelon volunteer. 

On May 22, The Lakeland Hills YMCA honored Hicks with the 2012 Citizen of the Year Community Service Award.

The award is presented to an individual in one of the communities the YMCA services who has made a difference in the quality of life for local residents according to the Lakeland Hills YMCA website. Hicks was one of nine volunteers from surrounding towns to be recognized as Citizens of the Year at an annual awards dinner. The event was held at the Parsippany Sheraton Hotel.

The 81-year-old volunteer moved to Kinnelon 60 years ago. Earlier that year, he married his wife, Mary Ann. That is also the year Hicks began his work with the and the Civil Defense Squad.

“[Mary Ann] is the one who deserves an award,” Hicks said about his wife. “For putting up with me and the strange hours for work, vocation and avocation.”

Hicks said he first saw Mary Ann playing tennis at a neighbor’s house when she was 15 years old.

“Most important in my life is my wife of 60 years,” Hicks said.

In 1951, Hicks began a career in television. His first job was with DuMont Television. Hicks then began producing radio and television commercials for the Young and Rubicam Advertising Agency. During most of his professional career, Hicks commuted from Kinnelon to New York City.

The couple discovered Kinnelon when, while living in New York, they saw an ad for the area in the paper. Because it was a hot day, they decided to check it out.

After moving to the borough, Hicks immediately got involved.

“Although I was in the National Guard from 1949 to 1957, I saw no military ‘action,’” Hicks explained. “Hence, a need to serve Kinnelon.”

As a volunteer, Hicks currently is the Coordinator of the Kinnelon Office of Emergency Management. In the event of an emergency, Hicks assists in synchronizing the efforts of the fire company with the efforts of the and health departments, as well as the work of the Kinnelon Department of Public Works.  

In addition to taking classes and remaining certified, Hicks spends about four hours each day volunteering as the coordinator. His duties include making sure there are working fire engines ready to go. Sometimes he is even still called upon to drive them. He also ensures that all departments are kept apprised of situations and that all trained officers and personnel are following the same chain of command in an emergency. If no other chief officers are on site, Hicks is also certified to become the incident coordinator.

“In Kinnelon, the coordinator tries to make sure that all departments are all in the same loop, with the same up-to-date resource list showing who could be called upon to respond to any incident,” he said.

According to Mayor Robert Collins, and has been instrumental in refining some of the borough’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant applications. 

Hicks said he has had fun volunteering and is proud of the fact that he has worked with every Kinnelon police chief since the first one, Gifford Whitmore.

“Whitmore gave me a little badge which I still carry,” Hicks said.

From 1963 to 1971 Hicks was also a Kinnelon councilman and he has served as Public Safety Coordinator and Civil Defense Director.

A modest man, Hicks indicated that the credit for his success as a volunteer is due to the work of others. He noted that volunteering is gratifying, and that he has most enjoyed "working with super, patient people, many of whom still speak to me,” he said.

The 2012 Citizen of the Year Community Service Award came as a surprise to the volunteer.

“I’m just trying to help where needed,” Hicks said of his long career as a Kinnelon volunteer. “I’ve been very lucky to have had such nice people putting up with me.”

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