F.F.A.M.

President’s Remarks – May 2015

What a busy time for all of us in the emergency services field. The spring weather has been beautiful and we have been receiving rain in a timely manner. As far as the weather goes, the FFAM Annual Convention in Osage Beach, Missouri the first weekend in May was one of the best that I can remember in many years. I was pleased that we did not receive, rain, sleet, and snow like we have in the past.

The opening ceremony on Friday night had one of the largest crowds I have ever seen. The contests were well attended and a crowd of around 400 was in attendance at the Saturday night banquet. Chief Dennis Reilly from Sunrise Beach was an excellent speaker and gave us all something to consider. All of these things I mentioned did not just happen by chance, but was because of a well planned and executed effort by the Lake Ozark Emergency Services Association, consisting of Chief Mark Amsinger, Lake Ozark Fire Protection District, Chief Jeff Dorhaurer, Osage Beach Fire Protection District, Chief Drew Stark, Camdenton Fire Department, Chief Ed Hancock, Gravois Fire Protection District, and Chief Scott Frandsen, Mid County Fire Protection District. Along with Chief Dennis Reilly, Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District and all of their crew. It took many people to pull off a class act such as the one we were privileged to attend. Every time I had a request, the Lake Area Chiefs responded quickly. They were awesome to work with.

Congratulations, and great job gentlemen. Congratulations also to all of the award and contest winners. I will let the committee chairs write about this in their articles.

It was a great convention and I thank everyone that had a part in its presentation. There is no way I could even begin to name everyone that helped. Again, awesome job. We should have another great convention in 2016. The FFAM board of directors will be working on the location in the next month as no one requested to host the 2016 convention as of this date. But please make plans now to attend. The exact dates will be forth coming soon. You won’t want to miss this one.

Missouri State Fire Marshall Greg Carroll will be our Sunday morning speaker at our annual Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial on May 17, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. in Kingdom City, Missouri. I am sure Chairman Keith Smith will write more about that event.

Our Candlelight Service will be May 16, 2015 at 9:00 p.m.

Honor Guard Commander this year will be Firefighter Chuck Beaty from the St. Joseph, Missouri Fire Department. We invite all honor guards to come and participate on Sunday morning and you may contact Commander Beaty at 816-261-0035 or by e-mail at cbeaty@ ci.st-joseph.mo.us

We also had an election of officers at convention and that brings me to congratulate everyone that was elected to office. I appreciate all of the officers, directors, and assistant directors that invest many hours serving FFAM in many different ways, attending meetings, promoting FFAM in their districts, serving on various committees, and having a can do attitude when I ask for a special task to be accepted. As president, I could not ask for a better group of individuals to serve with. Also I thank the delegates for approving both of the by-law resolutions.

Our next board meeting will be held on June 7, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. in Sedalia at the fire station on the fairgrounds. This will also be the first work weekend at the fire station to prepare for the state fair. I hope everyone can come and help.

As always, I want to hear from anyone that has a question or a concern. This is everyone’s association. You may contact me by phone at 573-581-6235 or by e-mail at chiefhoover@sbcglobal.net. Until we gather again, I wish each of you the best and God Speed.

Kenneth Hoover,
President Fire Fighters Association of Missouri