They are the ones we often do not want to see. They are the ones who we rarely thank for performing their duties. They are the ones who work tireless hours for far too little pay to provide for us a service we could not do without.

Those who work in the public safety sector — the Selma Police Department, the Selma Fire Department, the Dallas County Sheriffs Department, local volunteer fire departments and even those who staff the emergency rooms and hospitals — are the ones who are on call at the worst hours and on the holidays.

While many of us are spending time with our families this weekend, some of our neighbors, our friends, will be spending time on patrol or waiting to respond to an emergency.

There isn’t anyone who would argue that these public servants do their job for the thanks. They obviously, don’t do their job for the pay. Instead, if you were to ask any officer, any firefighter, any deputy or any nurse at the emergency room, they do their job to help others. They do their job — please forgive the cliché — to protect and serve.

Far too many times we go about our day and don’t take the time to offer a sincere “thank you” to the men and women who fill these roles. So today, we wanted to take this opportunity to offer our thanks, show our appreciation, to these men and women — these hometown heroes — for the job they do and the service they provide.