Make the Next 60 Years Even Better
The Missouri State Fair Volunteer Fire Department celebrated 60 years of service to the Missouri State Fair and did the fire department ever shine! It was an honor to be the Fire Chief and to work beside each and every person that volunteered their time to make the Missouri State Fair Volunteer Fire Department what it is…AWESOME! Without the members giving their time and the departments and vendors giving us the pleasure of using their equipment, we could not function. To each one that served or donated, thank you from me Robert (R.B.) Brown.
This year we had many new faces, which was fantastic. We asked everyone to make a list of things they wanted to do or see while serving at the fair. The main things listed were that everyone goes home safely and has fun. My question to you rookies, did your list get filled?
We had a few hurdles to jump with staffing, but we are a team and many stepped up to cover and help fill the void spaces with few glitches. With the new processes we used this year that got resolved and with the changes for next year’s process, it will be better and easier for all.
When the department went into service at 18:00 on August 10 it was a calm evening, but the next few days were a different story. On August 11 we responded to 32 calls. On August 12 we responded to 20 calls. On August 13 we responded to 37 calls. I was thinking this is going to be a busy fair then mother nature helped out with cooler weather and some rain and the calls did slow down. The department responded to a total of 167 calls. After 21:00 on August 21, the fair no longer provides courtesy rides so we provided a total of 80 rides.
The kitchen crew was outstanding. They feed us very well. Thank you for putting up with us. I hope your time with us was enjoyable and we enjoyed having you. We tried to make it easier on you after each meal with the cleanup.
The command staff, what can I say but, thank you! This fair was a very smooth flowing fair. It was all of you that handled whatever had to be done and it was handled professionally.
And to all that received a Missouri State Fair Volunteer Fire Department Award congratulations on an outstanding job. As I mentioned everyone is a winner for the superior job they did. Thank you for what everyone did to make this year’s fair great.
And finally, I want to say thank you for the very nice helmet front I received. It was very touching to get such a gift but what was so heartwarming was when the commissioners appointed me as next year’s Fire Chief. The group reaction was mind-blowing. I say thank you to members, command, and commissioners. Thank you for another year and let’s make year 61 better than the last. Next year’s fair will be August 10-21. Hope to see you next year.
Please fill out the survey soon so we can make the next 60 years even better.
FFAM
