PHILADELPHIA, PA– (September 13, 2021) – One thing was clear: The Thrill was back at the 66th edition of the Hero Thrill Show at the Wells Fargo Center Parking Lot in South Philadelphia last Saturday. On a day of tribute and tradition, the event was held on September 11th for the first time in the show’s illustrious history
It also was a day of fun featuring a fusion of sound, hot wheels, and cool daredevil maneuvers as Broad Street was transformed into the boardwalk. Kids and the young at heart had a golden opportunity to be unofficial firefighters and police officers while enjoying carnival food and throwback music from the record turnstile of The Sound of Philly. Thousands attended the event. The Thrill Show returned after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
To open the day of activities, the elite world-famous Philadelphia Highway Patrol Motorcycle Drill Team, under the direction of Capt. Daniel O’Connor made a roaring grand entrance in spectacular fashion. It was a sneak preview of its mesmerizing daredevil stunts that it performed later in the day – with even greater fanfare. The motorcade of 50 vehicles was led by Hero Thrill Show President & CEO Jimmy Binns, a certified motorcycle drill instructor and Deputy Chief of the Darby Township Police Department in Delaware County.
The procession of police motorcycles formed a “V” alignment in front of the stage, joining a contingent of police units including the Police and Fire Color Guard, K-9 Unit, and Philadelphia Police Bicycle Strike Force. Uniformed motorcycle officers from throughout the Delaware Valley also participated in the festivities.
Opposite the police formation was a splashy display of seven imposing fire engines from the Philadelphia Fire Department including Ladder 34 and Ladder 8, hoisting a huge U.S. flag 40-feet high attached to a skyward fire-engine ladder.
The extravaganza was hosted by Jimmy Binns, President & CEO of the Hero Thrill Show, Inc., and featured a program of City of Philadelphia officials from law enforcement and firefighting communities. The kickoff included Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel, as well as WOGL radio personality “Mr. Saturday Night,” Bob Pantano, and longtime boxing ring announcer and actor Nino DelBuono. Representatives from the Philadelphia fire and police departments led by the Philadelphia Firefighters and Paramedics/Local 22 Union, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)/Lodge#5participated in the opening ceremony.
Binns was the kickoff program’s emcee. The Hero Thrill Show paused in reflection and remembrance of the 13 military members killed in the Afghanistan attack in August and for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Binns acknowledged the year-round bravery of the men and women in uniform.
“We sincerely appreciate the stellar response efforts of our police and fire departments across the region who stand ready to rescue us from crisis after the violent and tumultuous weather conditions last week, or as today reminds us — in the response to the world-changing events of 9/11 two decades ago,” said Binns. “Their dedication and service are critical to the life and safety of our communities. That’s why the Hero Thrill Show is so important. When the tables are turned, the Hero Thrill Show is there to support our local police and fire communities, as well as their children and families in times of need.”
Binns, who has led the Thrill Show for 16 years, introduced the Official 2021 Hero Thrill Show Grand Marshal Miriam Gibbons Mandell, a Philadelphia philanthropist, and Thrill Show Board member. Mandell’s father, Thomas Gibbons Sr., served as Philadelphia Police Commissioner from 1952 to 1960. He was known as a stern but fair leader who reformed the department. Her brother, Thomas Gibbons Jr., a corporal in the Philadelphia Police Department, was shot in the line of duty during a routine police vehicle stop in 1970. He later left the force and became a Philadelphia Inquirer police reporter. Thomas Jr., who died in 2018, was long-affiliated with the Thrill Show and was a 2016 Thrill Show Grand Marshal. Mandell said she was proud to continue her family’s legacy in local law enforcement through her involvement with the Thrill Show.
Police Commissioner Outlaw spoke about the dedication and heroism of those in the Philadelphia Police Department who answered the call assisting at Ground Zero in New York City at the World Trade Center. Fire Commissioner Thiel noted how important it was to still go on withholding the Thrill Show, so people can come together to show their resilience and ultimately to remember on a somber day.
Former Thrill Show scholarship beneficiaries and their families were present at the event. The Philadelphia Police Department K-9 Unit with 30 police dogs of three different breeds performed real-life emergency defense-and-response exercises including obedience drills, agility hurdles on an obstacle course, and apprehension and narcotics searches. The Philadelphia Fire Department Academy’s service-training Engines 180 and 181 gave the ride of a lifetime to kids, who also dressed up in fire gear. The Fire Department’s Special Operations Units performed skillfully using fire apparatus, safety displays, and live fire-suppression exhibitions. Fire personnel participated in “The Firefighters Challenge” – a rescue exercise testing strength and skills, including reclining down ropes at high attitudes, an obstacle course fraught with perilous moving, burning objects.
On display were exhibits and equipment by the S.W.A.T. under the command of Capt. Anthony Luca, the Mounted Police Unit, Police Marine Unit, and Aviation Unit under the supervision of Capt. Anthony La Salle; the Bomb Squad Unit under the helm of Capt. Thomas Fitzpatrick and the Crime Scene Investigation Unit and U.S. Homeland Security under the command of Capt. Thomas McLean. Aspiring young police officers got a chance to sit in the driver’s seat of a stationary police helicopter courtesy of the Police Aviation Unit.
The heralded Police Highway Patrol Motorcycle Drill Team performed in the dazzling show’s finale, showcasing their signature whirlwind daredevil maneuvers in large formations, as a unit and in individual group acts. And when the thundering police helicopter took flight in the South Philadelphia sky at the end of the day of activities in a clearing parking lot, it was the usual signal that the Thrill Show had completed its mission until another year.
The Hero Thrill Show raises funds from ticket sales and donations for the post-high school education of survivors of police officers and firefighters who were killed in the line of duty. Dozens of students have and continue to further their education through the assistance of full funding at colleges, universities, and trade schools.
Binns, who has led the Thrill Show nonprofit for 16 years, said the annual event recognizes the heroism of our police and fire personnel who sacrificed their lives for their communities. Binns, of South Philadelphia, is the founder of the Hero Cop Plague programs in the Delaware Valley, a memorial initiative honoring deceased police officers at the site of their on-duty deaths, and the Cops on Wheels holiday food program benefitting law-enforcement families which lost loved ones on duty. Binns is a highly respected Philadelphia attorney and champion for the police and fire communities.
Visit the Hero Thrill Show online at herothrillshow.org— or follow us on Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/HeroThrillShow/
The mission of the Hero Thrill Show is to pay for the college tuition of children of local police and fire personnel killed in the line of duty. The Hero Thrill Show Inc. is the only organization that funds the college education of children of police officers and firefighters who have been killed in the line of duty.
