F.F.A.M.

A Message From The 2nd Vice President – July 2020

Brothers and Sisters in the Fire Service

I hope this finds everyone well since our last newsletter. Our nation is in a trying time right now as we have seen on the news with all of the riots in our major cities including here in the State of Missouri and also still dealing with the COVID-19. I am so proud of our members and also the Missouri Fire Service as a whole on how professional we have handled these calls over the last couple of months. As our fire marshal has always said, “neighbors helping neighbors.” For this meeting, travels have picked up in the last couple of days as the restrictions have been lifted in most parts of the state and I have been invited to events later this year from agencies.

My first invite was from the Mayview Fire Protection District. They hosted a picnic for their members and handed out awards for years of service. Some of their members received awards for 35 and even 40 years in the fire service and still serving. Thanks, Chief Kris White and your wife Jessica for the invite. I totally enjoyed the night.

The FFAM is in its busy season, to say the least. We will be attending the Revolutionary Fire Tactics at the lake on July 17. The FFAM is a vendor for this training and also the sponsor for the coffee for the attendees. Thanks go to David Woodward and the Lake FOOLS for the invite. Hope to see you there.

August will be here before you know it, which is the biggest promotional month for the FFAM. The Missouri State Fair is happening per Governor Parson and is going to be held August 13-23, in Sedalia. Something new that is happening is the FFAM has partnered with the Missouri 911 board. They will be in the firehouse handing out public relations items with our personnel and will be interacting with the public. We look forward to this partnership now and for years to come.

In September there are two major events that the FFAM has been invited to. The first is the 911 dispatcher conference in Springfield on September 13-16. They have asked us to have a booth at the conference and also to teach a fire dispatch class for CEU credit for the dispatchers. This is part of the agreement we have with the 911 board as mentioned earlier in this article.

At the end of the month, we have been invited to the Jefferson Engine Rally. This is going to be held on the 26th of the month. The FFAM has been asked to have a booth to promote membership and also have our 1929 pumper in the parade. What a great way to promote the FFAM. Thanks go to the Jefferson County Firefighters for the invite. The FFAM really appreciates being invited to this great event.

The candlelight and memorial service are scheduled for October 10 and 11, in Kingdom City. The candlelight service will be held on the 10th at dusk and the memorial service is the next day at 10:30 a.m. This event will be held rain or shine. If you have never attended this event it is very moving and is a great way to pay your respects to our brothers and sisters that have been killed in the line of duty. I hope to see you there.

As you can see, the FFAM is out promoting and also your voice in the fire service across this great state. If we can be of any assistance or you would like us to attend your event, please contact me or any of the directors. We will be glad to help. I can be reached at 660-229-4525. If I don’t answer please leave a voicemail and I will get back to you or email me at grant_oetting@yahoo.com. Until next time brothers and sisters, stay safe.