DELRAY BEACH, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — Gleneagles Country Club in Delray Beach hosted 200 first responders from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue on April 16 for its 16th Annual First Responders Appreciation Day, continuing a long-running event tied directly to the agencies that serve parts of South Palm Beach County, including calls connected to the Gleneagles community.
The private club donated the full day for the event, which was built to recognize the men and women who handle law enforcement and emergency response duties in the area. That included deputies from PBSO and firefighters and paramedics from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, the agencies with public safety responsibility in and around the community.
Lunch began at 11 a.m. The national anthem was scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Golf followed at 1 p.m.
Gleneagles said the event allowed first responders to take part at no cost. Many of those invited were the same deputies, firefighters and rescue personnel who responded to incidents involving Gleneagles residents throughout the year.
The 2026 event was one of the largest in the program’s history, with 200 participants scheduled to attend. The annual gathering had reached its 16th year, marking a continuation of what the club described as an ongoing effort to acknowledge the work performed by Palm Beach County first responders serving the local community.
Joe DeMino, Gleneagles’ director of golf, organized the event alongside partners from PBSO and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. The structure of the day reflected a working partnership between the club and the public agencies that handled emergency calls and public safety operations affecting the area.
“It was an honor to host this event each year,” DeMino said. “We were grateful for the service and dedication of our local first responders and proud to recognize their commitment to the community.”
The event served a ceremonial purpose, but it also underscored how public safety coverage in Palm Beach County is carried out. PBSO provides law enforcement services in many unincorporated areas of the county, while Palm Beach County Fire Rescue handles fire suppression, rescue calls and medical response across a large countywide system. For residents in communities served by those agencies, the event was a visible acknowledgment of the people behind those day-to-day calls.
Gleneagles framed the appreciation day as part of its broader community engagement efforts. After 16 years, the program had become a recurring local tradition rather than a one-off recognition event.
Additional coverage from this area is available in Delray Beach News.
