Hello from District 2. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holidays and a very Merry Christmas.
As 2015 came to a close, a number of departments held their annual Christmas dinners in our area. I wish to congratulate Shelbina Fire Chief Gene Harland as he received his forty year pin.
Several things coming up in the next few months you will want to make sure you check out. Winter Fire School is February 5-7, again in Columbia, and it looks to be a great school. Don’t forget the Expo on Friday, from 12:00–9:00 p.m. at the Holliday Inn. Make sure you stop by the FFAM booth. We will have tickets there for the Henry Firefighter rifle that will be given away at the Conference in April. All proceeds go to the museum. $1 per ticket / 6 for $5. The 2016 FFAM Convention is also coming up April 29 –May 1. It will be held at the Tan-Tar-A resort in Osage Beach. Make sure you get your teams ready for the competitions on that Saturday. Rules are posted at ffam.org.
The Missouri Firefighters Memorial service will be coming up in May. We have lost several firefighters this year in the line of duty, as well as members of our firefighter families. Make plans to attend the Saturday night candlelight program and Sunday memorial service. On a side note, just a few days before I wrote this, two more Missouri Firefighters lost their live in the Kansas City area. There was an article in the November/December FFAM magazine on page 16 about preparing your organization for a loss of a member of your organization. We have seen this many times as I serve on both the fire funeral team as well as the EMS funeral team. In the article it stated “Without a formalized preplan to guide your actions, many agencies react out of shock and emotion versus the objective perspective we maintain for everyone else’s emergencies” Please check out that article if you have not. On the website www.mofirefuneral.org you will find a copy of a basic funeral guidelines that your organization can consider. If you have any questions about preplanning contact Brian Zinanni with the fire funeral assistance team.
I know it’s ten months away but make sure you save the weekend of October 21-23, 2016, Lodge of Four Seasons, Osage Beach, Missouri. Saturday evening of that weekend will be very special evening so mark that date on your calendar. Much more to come on this.
A question, do you have a high school senior that could use a scholarship, or are you thinking about improving your education? Check out the scholarship information on the FFAM.org. Applications are due February 28.
In closing something very exciting. At the last FFAM meeting in December it was announced that the museum and education center is ready to move forward. I believe this is very exciting news. At this time, we want everyone to check out how you can help. Right now one big thing that you can do is sponsor a square foot of the museum by joining the “Foot in the Door” campaign. How? Go to FFAM.org, click on memorial, then on the educational / historical tab, then on “foot in the Door”. On the right side of the page. A $100 donation to the project will sponsor a square foot and give you unlimited access to the museum, and you can be a part of Missouri firefighter history. There is a saying “You can watch things happen, or you can make things happen”. To all fire departments and firefighters here in Missouri, Let’s make this happen together! Let’s make 2016 the best year yet in Missouri Fire service.
Till next time be safe
FFAM
