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In Hagersville, the lights burn blue.
From Dec. 27 to New Year’s Eve, blue lights are shining throughout the town along Highway 6 in Haldimand County to honour first-responders.
The dates of the second annual Blue Light Campaign have special meaning. Haldimand OPP Const. Grzegorz “Greg” Pierzchala, who grew up in Barrie, was shot dead while responding to a car in a ditch just outside Hagersville on Dec. 27 last year, while Hagersville-born Sgt. Andrew Harnett, a police officer in Calgary, died on Dec. 31, 2020, after being dragged by a car during a traffic stop.
Three banners honouring the slain officers are flying at Hagersville’s main intersection this week, with blue ribbons tied to street lights and fences, and signs posted outside homes and business declaring that the town will not forget the two men.
Campaign co-organizer Brenda Gallant said the aim is to honour Harnett and Pierzchala, along with all first-responders.
“We want them to know that they are loved and cared for by all the community,” said Gallant, whose fellow committee members include her twin sister, Beverly Petheram, Rob Phillips, and Andrew Harnett’s brother, Jason.
Jason Harnett, Beverly Petheram, Brenda Gallant and Rob Phillips form the Blue Light Campaign committee, which honours first-responders in Haldimand County, including two police officers with ties to Hagersville who were killed in the line of duty.
In the aftermath of Pierzchala’s death, Gallant and Petheram put up blue ribbons around town — in some cases on the same hydro poles where ribbons already fluttered in Harnett’s memory.
“Devastation. Total devastation,” Gallant recalled of the feeling in Hagersville after Pierzchala was killed two days after Christmas.
“It was heartbreaking enough when we lost Andrew Harnett, who was born and raised in Hagersville,” she said. “And then (to lose) Greg Pierzchala, who was part of the Haldimand detachment, was a second devastation in our small town.”
OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique paid tribute to Pierzchala on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.
“One year ago, OPP Const. Grzegorz (Greg) Pierzchala was tragically killed in the line of duty. Today we honour his life and sacrifice, a selfless #HeroInLife,” Carrique wrote.
Earlier this year, Hagersville's chamber of commerce advertised 'We Will Never Forget' lawn signs and quickly sold out all 225 that were available. The $15 fee covered the cost of the sign and stake.
“We already have more citizens coming forward that want them for next year,” Gallant said. “Everyone is just very pleased that we’re doing this.”
Gallant said some signs went to local OPP officers, who expressed their appreciation for the community’s support.
“This is a small town and we all care about each other,” Gallant said.
She hopes seeing the blue lights and ribbons will remind first-responders “that we do remember them and we do appreciate everything they do for us, every hour of the day.”
“While we’re sitting at home, they’re out there protecting all of us,” she said.
In September, the driver of the sport utility vehicle that dragged Harnett into oncoming traffic was sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter. The passenger in the SUV pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2021 and was handed a five-year prison term.
Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry stand charged with first-degree murder in Pierzchala’s death.
The pair made a court appearance in Cayuga on Dec. 21. No trial date has been set.
J.P. Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Hamilton Spectator. The LJI is a federally funded program.
