Colleagues at the N.C. Forest Service’s Warren County office, family and friends gathered at the Warrenton Rural fire station in Warrenton last Thursday to honor Reginald Stevenson, who retired earlier this spring after 31 years of service to the community.
Stevenson worked for five years with the N.C. Cooperative Extension’s Warren County center before joining the N.C. Forest Service as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
While he was a student at South Warren Elementary School, representatives of the Warren County Forestry Association gave presentations about fire safety, which often included visits from Smokey Bear. Stevenson credits those experiences with influencing his career choice.
“I thought that would be cool,” he told the newspaper.
His life came full circle after he joined the Forest Service. Stevenson has donned the Smokey Bear costume many times for fire safety programs.