 |
| Bill Barton receives a flag from Warren Harrod as they load the fire truck to place flags on the Common. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz) |
Thirty flags flew on the Common for the first time this Memorial Day, in memory of Harvard firefighter Alan Rouvel, who died last year at age 55. Fellow firefighter Ken Harrod of Fairbank Street said that after Rouvel’s death, squad members wanted to do something to honor his memory. They were thinking in terms of a tree on the Common, or a bench, he said, but after Rouvel’s wife Trish mentioned to one of the men that her husband had always wanted to see flags on the parade route in town, they decided the flags would be a more fitting memorial.
“Al was a great guy,” said Harrod of Rouvel, who had served the department for at least 15 years. “ He was always willing to do things…was always around helping. He was a good firefighter—one of the first from Harvard to pass the ‘Firefighter 1’ course offered at the Massachusetts Firefighters Academy in Sudbury.”
Fire Chief Bob Mignard said Rouvel was “a big brother–mentor figure to a lot of other members.”
Firefighter Chuck Nigzus agreed. “He was certainly a friend to anyone he met...a very kind man who always helped anyone who needed it,” he said.
 |
| Bill Barton and Bill McElhaney enjoy their perch atop engine 4 as they travel between telephone poles, placing flags to decorate for Memorial Day celebrations. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz) |
Harrod said that the 30 flags, which adorned the Common for Memorial Day and for about a week thereafter, cost about $50 apiece, paid for with funds of the Harvard Firefighters Association. Firefighters raise money for the association through events like the annual turkey raffle and the fire truck rides at the Apple Blossom Festival. He said that firefighters would like to put up another six to eight flags, and suggested that people might consider donating money for a flag to be flown in someone’s name. A small engraved plaque would be permanently mounted on a pole for each flag donated, he said. (Donors can contact firefighter Ken Harrod at 978-456-8838 for more information.)
Harrod said the flags will fly on the Common again for the Fourth of July, and will remain up for about a week.