Students Honored as 'Good Samaritans' at Heroes Breakfast
Published 03.28.2014
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Three Penn College students who entered a burning building without hesitation on Sept. 22, ultimately shepherding four people (and a few cats) to safety, were among those honored at Friday's fifth annual American Red Cross Heroes Breakfast. Anthony V. Rode, of Lords Valley; Leonardo Tejeda, of New Rochelle, N.Y.; and Thomas P. Veres, of Scarsdale, N.Y. – joined at The Genetti Hotel by their families and other supporters – were presented with "Good Samaritans" awards by college President Davie Jane Gilmour. Video profiles compiled by the Red Cross' Northcentral PA Chapter and shared with the audience recounted tales of heroism in nine categories, including the city fire rescue. "The last thing three carefree college students needed was to become involved with someone else's drama, (but) life doesn't always go as planned," the narrator said of the Penn College trio. "The fabulous threesome all said their mothers, while proud, were also a bit cross with their actions, each asking, 'Why would you do something like that?' Their answers were all the same: 'Someone had to.' Acting on instinct and showing skills and maturity beyond the standard reputation assigned to young men in college, they taught us lessons in bravery; smart, quick thinking; and decency." Rode is a construction management major, Tejeda is an architectural technology student and Veres is enrolled in building science and sustainable design: architectural technology concentration. Honored in the "Pet Rescue" category was Casey S. Lowmiller, a 2008 graduate of Penn College's emergency medical services major, one of two South Williamsport firefighters who saved a 5-week-old puppy that was trapped within a wall at a Market Street home.