Hometown Hero

All-American Pest Control selected Susan Landfield, a Middle Tennessee nurse and mom, as the recipient of its 2020 Hometown Hero award in May.

The Nashville, Tenn. firm created the Hometown Hero award in 2019 to recognize individuals “who make Middle Tennessee a safe, strong and all-around great place to live,” said Erin Richardson, owner and CEO of All-American Pest Control.

“We just wanted to put together a program that celebrated all those unsung heroes in Nashville that make our community great,” Richardson told PCT.

In choosing a winner, All-American Pest Control looks for an individual who lives out the same core values as the company. Those core values include reliability, remarkable service, teamwork, respect, thoughtful innovation and servant leadership.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP. This year’s recipient, Susan Landfield, checks off all the requirements, Richardson said.

Landfield is a nurse at Heritage Medical Associates and a mother to her 3-year-old son. In addition to serving others at work and taking care of her family, Landfield has gone out of her way to ensure the people in her community are supported and taken care of during the pandemic. Some of the ways she has served her community outside of her job, and home, are by ensuring those who can’t shop for themselves have the groceries they need, and organizing front porch deliveries of hand sanitizer, according to a press release from All-American Pest Control.

“She represents so many other working moms and essential workers who are juggling a great deal, yet continuing to give,” Richardson noted in the press release. “We’re proud to recognize such a deserving Middle Tennessean with this year’s Hometown Hero award.”

Landfield was nominated by her husband, Jacob Landfield.

“I nominated Susan because she just goes above and beyond what I could ever expect,” he said in a video created by All-American Pest Control.

Landfield humbly received her award and expressed gratitude over her ability to help the community. “This honor has been such a wonderful surprise,” she noted in the press release. “While I don’t think of myself as a hero, I’m grateful and hope others are inspired to show acts of kindness in their own neighborhoods.”

SOCIAL DISTANCE CEREMONY. With social distancing in place, recognizing Landfield looked a little different than it did for last year’s winner, coach Bill Robinson. Instead of having a ceremony at Landfield’s home, All-American Pest Control placed signs in her front yard before hosting a celebratory car parade past her home later in the week.

“That was inspired by all the drive-by birthday parties that have been going on during the pandemic,” Richardson said.

In winning the award Landfield receives 10 years of free pest control, mosquito reduction, termite protection and yard treatments.

After choosing Landfield as a finalist, the company also learned that she has Alpha-gal Syndrome, which is often transmitted through a Lone Star tick bite. The syndrome disallows Landfield from eating red meat. Therefore, the nurse was glad to have the free pest control services.

“With the tick protection, I can ensure that my husband and my child will not get this, and that just means the world to me,” Landfield said in a video interview with Richardson.

A POPULAR PROGRAM. In the kick-off of its Hometown Hero Award program in 2019, All-American Pest Control selected coach Bill Robinson as the first recipient of the award. Robinson worked as a teacher and coach for the Wilson County School System for 37 years.

Prior to selecting Landfield as the 2020 winner, Richardson wrote in a blog post on March 17, “We love good people like Coach Robinson, and we look forward to crowning a new Hometown Hero Award-recipient for 2020 who inspires us as much as he does.”

Despite marketing the program early this year, the company initially put it on hold after an unexpected tornado outbreak hit middle Tennessee in early March; this was followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. All-American Pest Control reconsidered and decided that now, more than ever, was a great time to recognize heroes who are stepping up to help others, Richardson said.

“The creative kindness that has come out of responding to the tornado disaster and the pandemic has been remarkable to see, (not only) across the country but also in Middle Tennessee,” Richardson said.

All-American Pest Control plans to continue its Hometown Hero program in future years and hopes that individuals throughout Middle Tennessee begin to expect it, Richardson said.

The company hopes that its “nomination numbers continue to grow and that this becomes a way that [it] can say thank you and recognize how awesome Middle Tennessee is,” Richardson said.

Richardson also said that she thinks the program has been a great way for nominators to say thank you to their friends, family and community members in a unique and special way.

All-American Pest Control accepted Hometown Hero Award nominations for anyone living in the Tennessee counties of Davidson, Williamson, Maury, Dickson, Rutherford, Wilson, Montgomery and Sumner.

The author is PCT’s former editorial intern and can be contacted via email at eross@gie.net.