ST. ALBANS — The Rotary Club of St. Albans bestowed its 31st Citizen of the Year Award to Joe Beaudry, longtime city fire chief, little league umpire and local Santa Claus.
An award ceremony this past Tuesday brought him and his family together in celebration with longtime friends and Rotarians at Hard’ack’s Greg Brown Lodge.
“The reason I do all this is because I like to see the joy of the kids,” Beaudry said in his acceptance speech. “Thank you for having me as part of the community and allowing me to do what I do and have fun doing it.”
The Citizen of the Year Award recognizes people committed to serving the community, who simultaneously uphold high ethical standards and serve as role models to others, committee chair Tom Hungerford explained. Recipients are given a plaque and have their name engraved on a bench in the Rotary Grove at the Collins Perley athletic fields.
As the event’s guest speakers shared, no matter what hat Beaudry was wearing — fireman, umpire or Santa Claus — he exemplified all of those qualities.
For 35 years, Beaudry served as Fire Chief for the City of St. Albans. During that time, he was known as “Fireman Joe” to generations of St. Albans City School students, because he was a routine classroom guest to teach lessons on fire safety.
“When I was teaching kindergarten, Joe was the resident superhero when he was coming to teach, which he did religiously,” SACS Assistant Principal Stacie Rouleau said. “I feel like we should have had a smoke machine, some flashing lights, because kids were so excited to have him come and tell them about fire safety.”
What stood out about Beaudry, Rouleau said, was his commitment to making sure every student was recognized — even those who were struggling. Those who were frightened were always the first invited to try his breathing machine, so they could see it wasn’t scary. And at eighth grade graduation, two students were selected for the Fireman Joe Award, which recognized those who made significant changes in their academics or behavioral choices.
“He wanted them all to be comfortable and educated, so if a firefighter had to visit their home, they would not be afraid,” she said.
Beaudry also stood behind hundreds of home plates as an umpire for St. Albans Little League, and his leadership made St. Albans well known as a place where umpiring was fair and done right, Michael Boulerice former SALL president said.
“He ran the diamond like a fire scene, no goofing off,” current City Fire Chief Matt Mulheron attested.
One year, Boulerice nominated Beaudry to umpire at the Eastern Regional Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut and he was selected as one of the first-ever from Vermont.
“He didn’t go looking for it,” Boulerice said. “There wasn’t any fanfare. We just did our business. We nominated him, and the rest is history. He got what he earned.”
Today, Beaudry volunteers as a local Santa Claus, making appearances during Festival of Trees, Running of the Bells, Fairfax’s tree lighting and more. His December calendar is filled with meet-and-greets with local kids, their smiles lighting him up no matter the cold temperatures.