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WYOMING &mdash; A shy and quiet Brian Lyons, 11, sat in the lobby with his mother, Linda Uren, at the state police Wyoming Barracks Thursday afternoon without knowing why.
				Uren knew the reason, but Lyons would later say he thought he was in trouble.
				State police invited Lyons, of Plymouth, to award him with the &lsquo;Junior Trooper&rsquo; certificate for his miraculous fundraising efforts in support of first responders.
				&ldquo;We felt he exemplified through the traditional values of a trooper,&rdquo; said Trooper Deanna Piekanski during the award ceremony. &ldquo;He has done much for his community.&rdquo;
				Last year, Lyons had a lemonade stand to raise funds to purchase the Jaws of Life for the Elm Hill Hose Co. No. 3 in Plymouth. Lyons reached his goal of raising more than $9,500 to pay for the device, which was delivered to the fire company on Vine Street on Aug. 22.
				&ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing another virtual lemonade stand now to raise money to go to first responders,&rdquo; Piekanski said.
				Lyons&rsquo; mother said his autism doesn&rsquo;t slow him down.
				During the coronavirus pandemic, Lyons has raised money to pay for food he has donated to first responders in the area, including pizzas delivered to the barracks. He is also making face masks he has given to first responders, including leaving extra face masks on a fence in front of his home in Plymouth for anyone in need.
				&ldquo;Brian is a very big part of the community,&rdquo; said West Wyoming Assistant Fire Chief Lee Hampton. &ldquo;At Christmas time, he sent a lot of Christmas cards to each fire house on the West Side. It&rsquo;s a lot of handwriting to do for somebody. It didn&rsquo;t go unnoticed. Every fire house you walked into, there was a Christmas card from Brian and it is very much appreciated.&rdquo;
				Lyons, who is fascinated about firefighters, got to see Hampton dressed up in fire gear.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very proud of Brian,&rdquo; Uren said of her son. &ldquo;Even though he has autism, we encourage him to go out in the community like everyone else.&rdquo;
				For his fundraising efforts for the Jaws of Life, Lyons was named Grand Marshal for the annual Plymouth Alive Kielbasa Festival parade last August.
				Lyons also holds the title of &lsquo;Junior Fire Chief&rsquo; in Plymouth.

‘Junior fire chief’ Lyons becomes ‘junior trooper’