Chester County sheriff is ready for liftoff

Chester County Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh has enjoyed a distinguished history of notable accomplishments.

Chester County Sheriff Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh is excited about her Bosslift opportunity.
Chester County Sheriff Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh is excited about her Bosslift opportunity.

In 1982, she founded Hercon, an aptly-named business that became the first female-owned construction firm to receive, in 1984, a major contract with PennDOT to complete a $700,000 overpass over I-95 in Chester. By 1995, she became the first woman president of the Chester/Delaware Homebuilders Association.

Then the Pennsbury Township resident shifted gears, having been lured to politics by her late father, an Upper Darby councilman. She became Chester County's first female sheriff in 1999.

At a subsequent national training class in Colorado for first-time sheriffs, she became the first woman to be elected class president out of about 3,000 sheriffs, only 30 of whom were female. In 2009, Welsh smashed another gender barrier, becoming the first woman to head the Pennsylvania Sheriff's Association.

Last month, she got news of another potential first: The National Sheriffs’ Association called to ask whether she wanted to go for a spin in a Boeing C-135 Stratolifter, a giant transport aircraft used by the military, on Thursday, May 14. She said she didn’t hesitate to say yes.

“It wasn’t even on my bucket list,” Welsh said, adding that maybe it should have been. “I thought it sounded like quite an adventure.”

The opportunity is part of the Defense Department’s Bosslift program, which gives employers insight into military installations, where they can observe National Guard and Reserve members involved in training exercises.

Welsh, who has six reservists on her staff, said she and 14 other guests will assemble at Andrews Air Force Base on Thursday morning for a briefing and breakfast. Then they will grab boxed lunches and board the C-135 for the three-hour refueling mission.

She said she was told to wear comfortable clothes and hard-toed shoes since the exercise would involve some hands-on details. “They told me I’d be in the cockpit at some point,” she said.

Welsh guesses that she’s probably the first female sheriff to ride in a C-135 and is likely the first Chester County official tapped for the program. But right now she’s focused on the flight, not its potential for boosting her list of pioneering endeavors.

“I’m excited,” she said. “This should be an incredible experience.”

 

 

 

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