I hope everyone had a good Christmas and I wish all of you a great 2015. The winter weather has been quite cold with some snow. There has been quite a bit of the flu and other illnesses across the state. I hope everyone stays healthy and safe.
I am excited about FFAM having the opportunity to represent the Missouri Fire Service for the dedication of the Fireman’s Landing, at Silver Dollar City in April. This is a once in a life time experience so I would encourage every firefighter in the state to attend and show your support. I appreciate Dr. Ron Baker for leading this endeavor and 2nd Vice President Nuebert for assisting.
1st Vice President Tim Bean and Secretary/Treasurer completed and presented the FFAM 2015 budget to the board of directors at the December board meeting and it was approved. They both worked very hard to present a balanced budget. Thanks for your hard work.
Here we are in the first couple weeks of the new year and have many activities already being planned for 2015. Some of those include; FFAM board meeting in Sedalia on February 1, Winter Fire School in Columbia on February 6-8, MoChiefs Conference at Big Cedar, in Branson on February 20-21, FFAM Convention at Osage Beach in May, and our annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Services on May 16 and 17 in Kingdom City. Many long hours are being expended to ensure all of these events will be worthy of your participation. I hope to see many of you at these events.
I would like to encourage everyone to nominate individuals and departments for the many awards that FFAM has to offer during its annual convention. Remember, the deadlines for nominations are February 28, 2015. I know there are many that are worthy of these awards, they just need to have someone nominate them. We have; Scholarships, Fire Department of the Year, Chief of the Year, Firefighter of the Year, Life Saving, and many more. Please take the time today and go to the web page and download and complete a nomination form.
All of our FFAM committees have been meeting and making plans for 2015. If you have any items you would like for us to consider, please let one of the committee chairpersons know. We are here to serve our membership and to make FFAM an organization you desire to belong to. As I have appointed the committees, I have tried to make sure that every area of the state is equally represented. If you have a desire to serve and want to be considered for a certain FFAM committee, please let me know. Most are full right now but openings sometime occur. Thanks to all that presently serve and spend many hours to better our organization.
I am looking for several items for our annual memorial service, I will need 2 ladder trucks, a honor guard commander, honor guards, pipers, drummers, and a suggestion for a Sunday morning speaker. If you are interested in any of these, please contact me at 573-581-6235 or chiefhoover@sbcglobal.net
As always, I am available at the above phone number and e-mail address. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything.
Stay safe my friends and I am wishing each of you a great 2015. May God bless each and every one of you.
Kenneth Hoover, President
Fire Fighters Association of Missouri
FFAM
