The “Guardians of THE LAND,” deliver safety for the people. Service without expectation and an extraordinary commitment to our community.
Click Below To Meet This Month’s Guardians of THE LAND
Meet Michael (Woody) Wagar (EMS).
Woody started his EMT paramedic career in Atlanta and has served with the Cleveland EMS for the past 17 years. For Woody, it’s the variety of each day. The opportunity to help people in their time of need regardless of the severity of their emergency, be it a minor injury to something more severe. As a Cleveland EMT, he’s dealt with everything from simple calls to cardiac arrests & heart attacks, to victims of gunshot and vehicular accidents. Woody really likes being out in the public and interacting with patients, their families and all of the health care providers and hospital staff.
In his spare time, Woody enjoys working around the yard, fast cars like the old classic and newer GTO’s, exploring the woods, bicycling and sometimes volunteering at the local pet center. His greatest joy is time with 2 year old daughter Delaney and wife Jennifer, who also works for the Division of EMS. He’s a cook who does most of the cooking at home but also enjoys smash and punk rock shows and mixing it up in the mosh pits.
As for the memories there are so many. The most recent experience was helping a young woman who wanted to end her life by jumping off one of the local bridges here in town. She was approx. 100-110 feet up on the bridge and she allowed him to get close enough to her that he could take her hand and help her down off the outside rail of the bridge. It took approx. 2 hours to talk her down, but he was able to gain her trust and hopes she is doing better today. Just the opportunity to be trusted to help the public and be trusted in their worst moments, life threatening emergencies or to provide comfort to them or a loved one who has died is a huge and very humbling experience for Michael (Woody) Wagar and he is very thankful for that.
This month’s Guardian from FIRE IS : Lieutenant Thomas Pryor
Lieutenant Pryor has been with the Division of Fire for 28 years in various positions from firefighter to fire inspector, the payroll and statistical officer, the personnel officer and now in his current role as a member of the Public Safety Recruitment Team.
Thomas enjoys the fact that no day is the same. As a firefighter you never know what emergencies the day will hold and as a recruiter you never know whose path you might come across and how you can have a positive impact on that person’s view of Public Safety and possibly the career they choose!
In his off duty hours, Lieutenant Pryor’s favorite past time is playing golf. He has a group of guys that get together every Wednesday and play at different courses in the area. He’s also an avid reader and loves spending time with his wife, Michelle at home. Weekends are all about socializing with their neighbor and most recently spending time with their first grandchild who was born a few weeks ago.
His most memorable experience is the camaraderie that you develop as a firefighter with other members of the Division. “As a firefighter we live, eat, and work together for 24 hours and your colleagues become like a second family to you. Over the years I have been blessed with special relationships with some of the other firefighters that go well beyond just being co-workers and have developed into friendships that I will have the rest of my life.”
Officer Felton Collier is currently detailed to the Personnel Unit working with the Public Safety Recruitment Team . He has been a member of Cleveland Division of Police for a little over 9 years
Since being detailed to the Public Safety Recruitment Team, Felton enjoys being out in the community and talking with the citizens about what an amazing opportunity it would be for them to come and work for the City of Cleveland in one of its 3 Divisions of Public Safety.
His favorite pastimes include coaching an AAU Track Team, playing PS4, spending time with family, attending church and church activities.
Felton’s most memorable experience is when he was approached by a young man whose house Officer Collier had been called to several times over a couple year period. He hadn’t seen the young man in a few years and when he approached Officer Collier, he shared that he had taken the Officer’s advice, and not only considered joining the military after school but acted on it. The young man had been serving the past 3 years in the Marine Corps and said it was the best thing he had ever done. He told Officer Collier he was thankful for his believing in him and suggesting he go to the military because it allowed him to see the world and get away from what he really believed was going to be a bad situation.