The Solomons Volunteers would like to extend their sincere condolences to the Franklin family on the passing of Louis "Butch" Cirina. Butch was Past Chief Chris Franklin's father. The Franklin family has played a huge dedicated role within our fire department from Butch's father James Swicklas being one of the first Fire Chiefs of the department (1964-1965), his son Chris being a past Fire Chief (1994-1995, 1999, 2002-2005) and current Chief Engineer of the department, Chris's wife Sue holding countless positions within the department and their son Charlie who is our current Lieutenant in the department.

Butch was a local member of the community who had spent his whole life in Calvert County. Graduating from Calvert High School in 1964 he had witnessed how our small community grew up to the town/city it has become. He was the owner of Solomons Ace Hardware and from the countless stories was a person who would give you the shirt off his back if it would help you. He was an avid fisherman and sincerely enjoyed boating and hunting. From this editors point of view he picked the best community to live his life with such a love for the water.

This past Friday the members of the Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department helped support the Franklin family with the services for Butch. It was a beautiful ceremony and many stories were share about his life and how much of an impact Butch made on many individuals within the community. Because of these memories and stories Butch and his generosity/dedication to his community, Butch is still making a difference within our community through the friends lives he touched and the morals he instilled in his family.

The Solomons Volunteers would also like the thank the community for the countless donations that have been made in Butch's memory. We will be using these contributions to help make a positive differences within our community in the exact way that Butch did in his life.