Twenty years, many have passed since that distant 2004 when a group of people from Cavarzer decided to found the local Civil Protection group. Then the city council unanimously gave the green light to this happy experience. Yesterday, Sunday 23 June, the celebration of this anniversaryon a day that began with mass celebrated in the cathedral of San Mauro and continued in the “Tullio Serafin” theater, where it was presented a photographic book on the 20 years of commitment of the “angels in yellow”.
The book will be presented by Enzo Salmaso, as artistic director of the “Serafin” theater, next to him Frediana Fecchio, one of the founders of the Cavarzerano civil protection group and for years local coordinator, a role now held by Lino Tordin. Then the mayor Pierfrancesco Munari, the prefect of Venice Darco Pellos, the bishop of Chioggia Monsignor Giampaolo Dianin. And again the director of the metropolitan city of Venice Massimo Gattolin, Marco Dolfin representing the regional council of the Veneto Region, the mayor of Cona Alessandro Aggio, the commanders of the Carabinieri and the local police, the fire brigade, the civil protection of Chioggia and Cona, the arms associations, the comprehensive institute of Cavarzere with the director Ilaria Finotti, the Avis of Cavarzere with the president Pako Massaro, the Red Cross, the Pro loco of Cavarzere with its president Lina Figoni, the civil protection councilor Grandi Marco, the former mayors of these two decades as well as the city councilors and many citizens.
“It is a day of celebration for Civil Protection, for those volunteers who, as we have said over and over again, are ‘angels’ that we call in times of need – the words of mayor Munari – I myself, the day after I was proclaimed mayor of Cavarzere, found myself faced with the greatest rainfall since the ARPAV records rainfall and the first thing I did was call the Civil Protection. We coordinated to understand what we could put in place for our city and the first lesson I received that evening from the then coordinator was that we need to be seen in uniform because only then do people feel safe. And so it was.”
Munari then recalled the delivery of the San Marco prize to the Civil Protection of Cavarzere on 25 April 2022 “a moment that was very emotional for me but I think for the whole group”. “I hope that there can be the so-called generational change and that today’s young people can see in the Civil Protection volunteers as masters, icons and figures to imitate – concluded Munari – and that they can start this journey”.
