DANVERS — Tomorrow, weather permitting, Donna Picone, 51, plans to walk all the way from her home along the Putnamville Reservoir to all five fire stations in Peabody with her friend Karen Shah of the Magnolia section of Gloucester.
Just the trip from her house on Reservoir Drive to the Peabody Fire Department headquarters on Lowell Street is 6.6 miles.
When she arrives, she plans to give firefighters a small silver medallion inscribed with the firemen's prayer, something she purchased from the Carmelite gift shop at the Northshore Mall.
Picone got the idea to walk to fire stations after being touched by the death of six Worcester firefighters in an abandoned cold storage warehouse in December 1999.
"I appreciate their professionalism. I respect them for what they do," said Picone, who was born in Beverly, grew up in Salem and has lived in Danvers since 1986.
So far, she has visited 400 stations in New England, Florida and California since 1999. She also has ties to the fire service through her uncle, John Monahan, who retired from Engine 2 in Salem. Her second cousin, John Monahan Jr., is assigned to Engine 5 on Loring Avenue in Salem, she said.
It's not the first time Picone and Shah have laced up to show their support for firefighters.
In September 2006, the pair visited Salem's fire stations. In May 2007, they visited Gloucester's. In September, they trekked to Beverly and in November, they visited stations in Danvers and Middleton.
"I think it's great," said Picone's father, Richard Picone, 76. "I think we should all have people interested in other people's problems."
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