By Aaron Wasserman
Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts)
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
TOWNSEND, Mass. — A modest man who everyone said normally shuns accolades, William G. Hamilton Jr. couldn’t help but receive heaps of them on Tuesday evening.
Hamilton, a fireman here and in Groton for nearly four decades, was the guest of honor Tuesday at a special event attended by dozens of area firefighters and hundreds more of his admirers. All gathered to praise his service and life.
“He’s a lot more than a fireman,” Jack Collins, a former town chief, said of Hamilton. “I think his most profound quality is he is a gentleman in every sense of the word.”
Praise for Hamilton -- better known as “Billy,” or even “Brother Billy” to those closest to him -- arrived at the Townsend Ridge Country Club from near and far on Tuesday.
The town fire department promoted him to captain, leading to much hugging and clapping, something that occurred often.
Meanwhile, the state House of Representatives and Senate issued special commendations, as did the towns of Townsend and Groton; local fire chiefs and departments gave speeches; and Dan Shaughnessy, columnist for the Boston Globe, sent a note from the Red Sox’ spring-training camp in Florida, recalling his time playing high-school baseball with Hamilton in Groton. Hamilton, 54, soaked it in from the front of the room, where he sat with his wife, Robin.
A Townsend firefighter since 1985, Hamilton now has pancreatic cancer.
He’s only taken one week off since being diagnosed last summer, said Gary Shepherd, a town firefighter who helped organize the event. But when Hamilton told Shepherd on Friday he wanted to address the Townsend Firefighters Association on Tuesday evening, Shepherd decided it was time for a grander event.
“We want to stand tall to recognize what he has done, not just for our brethren, but the community as a whole -- all the towns he’s responded to and the lives and property he’s protected,” Shepherd said Tuesday afternoon, in the midst of planning the event.
But those few days of planning were apparently all Shepherd and his colleagues needed.
Firefighters from Groton, Townsend, Harvard, Pepperell, Dunstable, Ashby, Littleton, Lunenburg, Mason, N.H., and Brookline, N.H., attended. Civilians brought the standing-room-only crowd to about 400 people.
“I think, Bill, if we had more than four days we would’ve been at the civic center or the DCU Center,” Shepherd said at the night’s start. “It’s easy to understand how news travels like this when you’ve touched so many lives.”
The crowd had donated more than $14,000 to the Hamilton family by the end of night, firefighters announced. Several area businesses also provided generous gift certificates.
No one appeared to want to leave before shaking Hamilton’s hand. Many said the strength of his handshake is legendary.
Hamilton said he couldn’t believe the sight of dozens of firefighters lined up to greet him when he arrived.
“I didn’t know this was going to happen,” he told the Sentinel & Enterprise. “I just want to thank everyone here.”
Overall, speakers praised Hamilton’s humility, his comfort, his smile, and his dedication to the Groton and Townsend Fire Departments for so many years.
Donald Hurme, a former fire chief here, told Hamilton, with the admiration that characterized the whole evening, “You certainly represent the best in firefighters and the best in the town of Townsend.”