By KATHY COPELAND / Community Columnist

National Family Day was Sept. 24. The day is promoted to emphasize the importance of spending time with family. It is not limited to immediate family, but instead the extended family which can include community members, church family and beyond.

Harpersville celebrated the day by inviting the families in Harpersville to Town Hall for fun giveaways, useful information and, of course, food. Yes, the evening included pizza (donated by the Chevron Station), cookies and sweet tea. Pizza and little squeezable footballs were hands down the favorite.

This was a family-oriented event. There were several members of the fire department and their families, including Fire Chief Heath Confer. Police Chief Jimmy Macon and his daughter and other members of the community. Of note, the camaraderie between Mayor Greene and Harpersville former Mayor Theoangelo Perkins who blessed the food.

Greene, with pizza in hand, welcomed everyone to Town Hall and thanked them for coming out on a rainy evening. Confer, after joking about football while pointing to the basket of giveaways, quickly got serious as he described a call they had been on earlier in the day.

“We often support Vincent, and that is what we did this morning,” Confer said, describing a stove fire that quickly got out of hand. Looking over at his family, and visibly choked up, he said, “I can’t emphasize how important it is to have a plan.” He went on to explain that children need to know what to do in case of a fire. He further talked about the need for area fire departments to know if there are disabled occupants in a dwelling. Having a plan in place to address the special needs of those who are disabled could be the difference in saving a life, the chief emphasized.

Next up was Macon. He joked about Harpersville being called a “Speed Trap” and said that his department is not ashamed of working to protect the citizens of Harpersville and those who travel through. “You will not get pulled over unless you are going 9 miles over the posted speed limit,” Macon said. He explained pulling over drivers who are speeding is often how individuals on the way to make a drug deal are caught. “We are not trying to hassle people,” Macon said.

The chief then went on to explain some of the new laws like the “Move Over” law which now applies to any parked vehicle. He explained that this law had recently been expanded.  The law formerly applied to police vehicles only; but now, it applies to any parked car on the side of the road. When asked what if it is not possible to pull over, he replied, “You still must slow down a minimum of 10 miles below the speed limit.”

Macon reviewed several statistics about teen drug use provided by the National Child Safety Council, which also provided handouts. He said, “If there are prescription drugs in the house, lock them up.”