With a 31-year veteran of the Orange Beach Fire Department, four-year police officer now in the marine division and a four-year seasonal lifeguard, the Lanford family is well represented in public service to the city.

Papa Kevin is currently the training officers for the fire department and has served as a battalion chief as well. Son Hunter is the police officer and son Taylor was recently named as the department’s first Lifeguard of the Year.

“Proud of Taylor, who is in nursing school and has been since July - splitting time between school and the beach,” Kevin said. “Proud to see that they both understand the importance of service to our community.”

The fire department made the announcement on its Facebook page that Taylor won the vote of his peers to be named the inaugural Lifeguard of the Year for the 2023 beach season.

“Taylor was able to embrace his role as a Senior Lifeguard which allowed him to be one of the primary role models for the 14 rookie lifeguards we had this season,” Beach Safety Director Brett Lesinger said. “These three candidates were selected by their supervisors for their outstanding performance at different time periods throughout our season of March 1 to Nov. 1.”

Taylor said he was humbled to receive the honor which came to him as a complete shock at a yearend ceremony.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Taylor said. “I work with so many incredibly talented people who draw experience from so many differing facets of life, I was honestly shocked when my name was called to stand at our annual End of Season Celebration to win this award.”

Lesinger and the lifeguard supervisors decided at the beginning of the season to implement the new honor and also named a Lifeguard of the quarter for the March-November period. Others up for the honor were Robert “Tripp” Stuart III and Tyler Harless.

“I witnessed incredible physical feats of distressed swimmer rescues by so many other guards like Brandon Rizzo, Sam Pelt, Tripp Stuart and Sawyer Wilson, just to name a few,” Taylor said. “Not just that, but these are guys who are seasonal staff like myself, so to see some of them step up in critical situations and show excellent displays of leadership during a high-stress scene is simply amazing.”

Taylor is currently enrolled in nursing school at South Alabama and hopes to work in ICU and the ER and eventually become a flight nurse on an air ambulance helicopter. Working with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and rescue jumping out of an ALEA helicopter helped him find another job he’d love to have.

“After gaining enough experience, I’ll attempt to become a flight nurse to assist in the care of the most critical patients requiring immediate emergency care,” Taylor said. “After getting to deploy from the ALEA Helicopter during our Summer Rescue Swimmer Detail on Memorial Day 2022, it’s hard to think of not flying ever again.”

He's also eager to be on the beach for a few more years as he completes the degree from South Alabama.

“After that first summer, I realized how much I love being in those fast-paced, high-adrenaline situations, which led to my enrollment in the fall of 2020 to the Alabama Fire College Academy at the Orange Beach Fire Department’s Regional Training Center,” Taylor said. “I then worked for six months as a Resident Firefighter while also completing my Emergency Medical Technician certification.”

The brothers are Gulf Shores High School graduates, Hunter in 2011, Taylor in 2014. While dad Kevin has been with OBFD for 31 years, he went to high school in Miami.