Iowa hosted the Midwest Multistate Meeting that included seven state fire service associations on Saturday, October 25 in Des Moines, IA. This meeting has taken place each year since 1996 and involves a full day of networking with other state fire service associations. The entire front row of the accompanied photo is of the Iowa board plus their past president and the other six states represented are Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Missouri. I have attended every meeting except 2013 since this networking gathering was started in 1996 in Iowa City and then moved to Des Moines in 1998. Iowa has hosted the entire time and offers every year for someone else to take it, but their central location has kept it there.
While there is an agenda, a discussion takes the meeting and the day where topics and questions develop. With each state presenting / responding to questions, it takes some time to circle the room. It is still amazing that after 19 years an entire day is filled from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. including a working lunch just in the sharing of mutual challenges and the passing of information. It is a little humbling in considering that Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas and Illinois have fire service associations all established before 1890 (not a misprint). Minnesota was the first in the Midwest when they established in 1873. Iowa was second in 1878. Kansas was third in 1887 and Illinois fourth 1889. Missouri, Wisconsin and Nebraska are relative new-comers with state fire associations in comparison. I will have a formal report for the December board meeting and the next newsletter.
FFAM
