12/17/2010

Hello all Geneva Co. Emergency Responders (Fire/Law Enforcement/EMS)!!

It's been a long time since I have sent in an atricle!!  There has been a lot of things going on in a lot of arenas!!  WHEW!!  I have heard a lot of people visit the GCVFA website, & we appreciate that very much!!  I have a few items:

Thanks to Van Johnston Malvern FD Chief for the multiple terms he has served as VP of the GCVFA under Mark Shehee, & Robert Herring, & the excellent job he has done filling in for both of them when they were on duty at their respective career depts!!

Thanks to Robert Herring for staying in office for the full year, even though you wanted to only stay for 6 months!!  You have accomplished several things this year, moving to another accountant, getting the Fire District Bill/Fee on the ballot, & passed in your own VFD, & getting the communication grant going among others.

Thank you to Roger Wise for making the GCVFA Website!!  It has been very informative, helpful, & a lot of good things are on it, & a lot of good information has been passed to others from it!!

Also a big, big thank you to the family members of the firefighters, EMT's, & Law Enforcemnent Officers, you are the ones that are left behind, & "covering for us" on undone chores, child care, & putting up with interrupted sleep, interrrupted meals, holidays, & other family time!!  Your Responder could not do it as well without your believing in him/her, & supporting him/her!! 

Thanks to all of the founding members of the GCVFA & the various Volunteer Fire Depts that are in Geneva Co for what you have done to get things started, lay the ground work, & help establish something that is there for us to have today!! By "going before us" paving the way, you also sacrificed a lot of time, energy, money, etc to get us where we are today!!  Sometimes, thank you is not enough, but it comes from the heart!!

Thanks to the members of the communities we serve, & the city/town & county officials who also support us, & help us out by promoting our fundraisers, & other causes!!  You need us, but we also need you too, not only money wise, but just to talk up the support for us!!

Also....in light of the shooting at the Panama City School Board meeting, & the lady EMT from the Montgomery area that was struck & killed in the line of duty Wed am while working a motor vehicle crash scene (MVC) on I- 65, assisting passengers in a car during the "black ice" when she was stuck & killed by a speeding truck....training is key to our safety & survival, & we need to be as careful & safe as possible during our responses.  Mike Jones was truly a hero, & the lady EMT also as she was "just doing what we all do" when she paid the ultimate price.  As John 3:16 states "No greater love does a man have that he lay down his life for his friends," to which we can add our communities we serve.  This is the time of year to step back a few paces, take a breath, reflect, & count our blessings!!  THANK GOD we still live in a country where we have the freedom to serve in these capacities because we WANT to & not because we are forced to!!

Last but not least, I would like to congratulate Roger Wise on being elected President of the GCVFA, & Andy Hovey for being elected VP of the GCVFA for 2011.  We have accomplished a lot, but there are things to be finished up, & more to accomplish!!

I hope everyone has a safe & Merry Christmas, & we all have a safe, healthy, prosperous, & Haooy New Year for 2011!!  I am blessed to be able to contine to serve the GCVFA, & my volunteer FD!!

 

19 April 2010

 

Hello Everyone!!

My apologies for not having provded an article for awhile, things have been really crazy with Firest Responder School, & Block I of Firefighter I & II, as well as all the other normal stuff, & association stuff!!

I would like to take the time to thank Roger Wise for the outstanding job he did in setting up the Geneva Co. Vol. Firefighters' Association website!!  I wish I had his computer knowledge!!!!

I would also like to thank Robert Herring for the energy & time he's devoted since becoming president of the association!!  He has inherided some problems, & also was very concerned about our fire protection district bill!!  Plus he has motivated & assigned Mark Shehee to the communications grant, Jeff Lowery to the SOP's & Burst chamber, & Andy Hovey to the Firehouse Subs grant for the Thermal Imaging cameras.  We have a lot of things to do & some hard work ahead of us on the bill, but it will be so worth it in the end results!!!!

We need to get the info from the April 21st Emergency Chiefs' Meeting out to the public in each of our ESN response areas so that the public will have the CORRECT information, & the proper understanding of what we are trying to accomplish with the fire districts, & alternate funding as opposed to the events in 2002!!!! THIS IS going to take a concerted effort; like I have been saying since the inception of the fire protection districts/bill, If you are not for the districts, & do not need the financial support (at the moment), then fine, BUT PLEASE HELP THE REST OF THE MEMBER DEPTS. THAT WANT & NEED THIS BILL/REFERENDUM PASSED BY THE PEOPLE IN THOSE AREAS!!!  NOT EVERYONE IS IN AN INCORPORATED AREA/MUNICIPALITY & HAS THAT SORT OF FINANCIAL BACKING, AND FOR THOSE OF US THAT DO NOT, IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME THAT WE WILL BE FORCED TO MAKE DISTASTEFULL DECISIONS SUCH AS CLOSING THE DOORS, SELLING TANKER/PUMPERS & GETTING SOMETHING ELSE THAT COSTS LESS, BUT CARRIES A LOT LESS WATER IN ORDER TO STAY AFLOAT!!!!  ALSO, WITH THIS ECONOMY THAT HAS TANKED SINCE SEPT. 8, 2008, IT MAY BE A MATTER OF TIME ALSO BEFORE THE CITIES & TOWNS ARE PUT IN A FINANCIAL BIND AS WELL DUE TO THE THINGS THEY HAVE TO DO NOW THAT THE OBAMA HEALTHCARE BILL HAS BEEN PASSED, ETC.!!  AT LEAST IF YOU GO AHEAD & FORM THE DISTRICT NOW, IF YOU EVER NEED THE FINANCIAL HELP, THE MECHANISM WILL BE ALREADY IN PLACE FOR YOU, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO DO THIS WHOLE THING OVER AGAIN ON YOUR OWN, & FOOTING THE EXPENSE FOR A SPECIALLY HELD ELECTION IN YOUR AREA!!!!  i WOULD FEEL THIS WAY EVEN IF i WAS ON A DEPT WITHIN A MUNICIPALITY!!!!!  iT'S CALLED BEING PROACTIVE INSTEAD OF REACTIVE!!!

Also, be thinking of ways to help each other out, & that includes the Resource Manuals, plus just being neighborly & keeping your equipment up to date, & ready to go not only for your own responses, but in the event you are called on to provide mutual aid.

Please bear in mind that we are officially back in the Drought!!  Not only do we have the spring/summer severe weather season, but now we need to be concerned with open burning/outdoor fires that can change VERY quickly from a controlled burn, or a contained fire that you are extinguishing to an uncontrolled burn, or a fire you had contained has now spread to planted pines, put structures & people in danger, etc.!!  It does not take but one gust of wind, and/or one careless act in these conditions: unattended fire, campfire, bonfire, trash fire not completely put out, a lighted cigarette thrown out the window, children/teens playing around with stuff they should not be, etc.

Finally, I would like to give recognition to two people who probably will not see this article, Jason Shepherd from Fadette Vol. FD & his boss Marty Glover from David Stewart Electric who took my desktop tower to their  office, & spent the time & energy repairing the damage, & bringing her back to life & not losing anything!!!!  These 2 guys are the reason I'm back up & running!!!!  I have already thanked both of them, & really do appreciate their help when I desperately needed it the most!!!!  THAT is why the postcards for the April meeting did NOT get sent out; I was waiting to see if our communitiy bldg would be available for us, or tied up with Firefighter I class, & about that time the desktop decided to throw in the towel, & the desktop had already done sone in December during our trip to NC!!!!!

We also owe a great debt of thanks to the Late Warren Beck, R-Rep House District 87 for working on the Fire Protection District Bill immediately prior to his untimely passing during this Legislative session, AND to Sen. Harri Anne Smith for carrying on Rep. Warren's work, & Riley Siebenhenner for assisting Sen. Harri Anne with that task; they came to us in the Emergency Chiefs' meeting on March 22, to work out wording & other issues that the Geneva Co. AL Farmers' Federation (ALFA, NOT the insurance co) had, & for Harri Anne's timely updates to Robert, Roger & others even as recent as our April 12 Geneva Co. Vol. Firefighters' Association meeting; the bill was successfully passed this week in the House as well as the Senate, so now the PEOPLE can vote on it!!  Also many thanks to AAVFD President Chauncey Woods, Probate Judge Fred Hamic, & anybody else that I may have omitted for their tireless efforts on our bill-if passed by the citizens, it will mean so much for so many citizens tha their fire protection has a chance for funding to keep the fire depts operational!!

Stay safe, well, warm/cool, & dry!!  Remember the goal is EVERYBODY goes back to the house at the end of the run!!!  Take care & God Bless!!

Linda C. Moore, Sec.-Treas. GCVFA 

 
Hello to all Geneva Co. Firefighters!! I'm very happy to see a new way to communicate with you, & pass along necessary info!! Hope the rain does not cause more havoc than we've already had since March 09!! I would like to remind everyone of the next GCVFA meeting on MONDAY Feb 8, 2010 @ 7pm, the location will be Coffee Springs FD; I plan to send the post cards out over the weekend-tomorrow or Sat. Like everybody else, we've hit the ground running FD wise with over a dozen runs so far this year, and also family wise!! To add to the mayhem, this morning/afternoon we acquired a new family member, she is a full blooded Old English Mastiff (the OLD style with the big head & muscular body & legs that were also a large sze), she will be 3 on March 4, she weighs 160 lbs, & her name is Kat (Kordsmeier's Old School Kitty Kat Kan Too), & is a medium fawn color. Please keep me up to date with ANY changes in officers, contact info, etc. this year, as I am supplying other people with it!! Stay strong, safe, well, warm, & dry!! Linda