Hello from the east side of the state. I hope all is well. Can you believe how fast time is going by? Summer is about over and the Missouri State Fair is in the history books.
First off, I want to say thank you to all this year’s poster contest winners and a big thank you to the artist’s that attended the Missouri State Fair to receive their prizes. Those winners that were able to attend received free admission into the fair, a tour of the fire station, received their award money and a wristband pass to the midway carnival. I also want to give a special thank you to Missouri State Fair Volunteer Fire Department for making the fun day at the fair possible for all the winners.
Now that the fair is in the history books and the hours of daylight are getting shorter that means that fall is around the corner.
October is fire prevention month. Many districts and departments use the entire month to promote fire safety and others focus on fire prevention week. This year, fire prevention week is October 8-14. But remember, fire prevention is a daily topic so spread the word.
This year the Fire Prevention Committee is asking for some help from all the district and departments for the 2018 contest. Each poster has a label that is placed on the back that provides us with some necessary information. This information includes the artist name, school and sponsoring fire department. We also need to ensure that the parent or legal guardian contact information is also included. Schools are not in session during the summer making it difficult for us to contact the winners and their families about attending the state fair so having this information is essential. Please make sure that this information if filled out in its entirety before submitting the posters for judging.
I challenge each member fire department to contact their local schools and get those posters in so that the 2018 contest will be the biggest and best one yet. Thank you to those departments that continue to submit entries each year helping making the contest a success.
Now to a bitter sweet ending. If you have not heard this Missouri State Fair was the last for Chief Charlie Neubert. He retired after 40 years. As for many, Charlie got his start as a junior and dispatcher and worked his way up the ladder as Chief. He had the midway fire and held the position of commissioner, officer 3, for many years. Chief you’ll be missed and I want to say thank you for showing me the fair over my four day over 20 years ago…that’s all it took. You will be missed thank you Chief for a great job well done.
One final note while writing this, a bad storm named Hurricane Harvey is about to hit the coast of Texas. Many emergency workers are in place waiting to see what mother nature will do. Many federal assets are in transit including Missouri Task Force 1, which I am very proud to be a member of. It is the best of the best and I wish I was able to go. I hope each team achieves every goal and comes home safe. Until we meet again.
FFAM
