In an effort to honor the service and sacrifice of America’s first responders, an annual college football bowl game played at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas has been renamed the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. SERVPRO of Kennett Square and Oxford, one of the approximately 1,750 franchises that the company has in the U.S. and Canada, will be picking a pair of local first responders to win a trip down to Texas for the game, which will feature Boston College taking on Boise State. The game will be played on Wednesday, Dec. 26.

The first responders who will be eligible to win the trip will be nominated by the fire chiefs and police chiefs of fire departments and law enforcement agencies in the service area of SERVPRO Kennett Square and Oxford. The service area includes southern Chester County and communities along the Route 30 corridor.

“We’re very happy to be able to honor first responders,” said Cliff Masscotte, a marketing manager for SERVPRO Kennett Square and Oxford. He noted that first responders provide a great service to their community and their country.

Masscotte estimated that there are 16 fire companies and about a dozen or more law enforcement agencies in the service area of SERVPRO Kennett Square and Oxford. Each one can nominate one person to win the trip. Many fire companies also have ambulance divisions, and those first responders are eligible for the nomination as well.

“It’s really up to the fire chiefs or police chiefs―each department―to decide who gets nominated,” Masscotte explained. He added that the first responders could be nominated based on any criteria that the individual police department or fire department decides―perhaps the nominees underwent extensive training to improve their work, or worked hard to overcome a personal challenge, or served the department for a long period of time. The first responders all serve with bravery and selflessness, so there is no shortage of worthy candidates.

The two lucky first responders will receive tickets to the big game, air travel to Texas, and a hotel for a two-night stay.

All the nominations were due by Friday, Nov. 30. The drawing is set to take place around Dec. 10.

Masscotte said that this is the first year that SERVPRO has been the title sponsor for the game, which was previously known as the Heart of Dallas Bowl. He explained that a different group of first responders―firefighters, police officers, EMTs, the military, and doctors and nurses―will be honored throughout the game, with different groups recognized during each quarter. Other groups like search and rescue members, dispatchers, federal agents, border patrol agents, and correctional agents―anyone who arrives on the scene and provides assistance during an emergency―will be recognized during the game.

Additionally, SERVPRO will also have 50 people run out on the field to unfurl the American Flag. Masscotte and Brian Arencibia, a marketing representative, will be among those who get to do that. The game will be nationally televised by ESPN. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 26.

SERVPRO was founded in 1967, and is an industry leader in providing fire and water cleanup and restoration services, mold mitigation and remediation.

More information about the First Responder Bowl, including the teams who will play in the game, can be found at www.firstresponderbowl.com.