FOOLS

      As I had stated in a prevoius blog, The best thing that I had ever done was to join the "FOOLS", thanks in part to my good Friend Jeff Schwering , even thou Jeff and i have never met face to face , we've formed a great friendship , bouncing Ideas off each other, discussing the everyday rants we face as Officers  and just being there when we needed to blow off steam.

       Not Knowing what and who the FOOLS were, i stepped up to the Challenge .in the short time of being a member, I began to change the way I think  and the way I approach things in everyday life . For the longest time i have heard and seen the terms used by the FOOLS, but I really never knew their true meaning. Now i see and hear Brothers who are not members using these terms , with no clue as to what they mean and that really hit's hard.

      I firmly believe that if I had known about the FOOLS earlier , I would have joined back 2011 when our local chapter was formed , by far i'm a novice member and I have a long way to go before I truely know who and what we are. Take for instance ,two months ago we worked a Fundrasier for a Brother with Cancer{ Cancer the Biggest MUTT of all , as in the words of our Chapter President] , over 400 people attended this event and the money rasied for this Brother and his family was astounding. Up to that momentI had never really felt a part of a group, but that night changed everything . I have come to a real conclusion, every Firefighter needs something and that one thing is the FOOLS.

      When I came into the Fire Service , we had some great Older members who were willing to the time with us young Firefighters and mentor us. Today , we have lost that edge with our younger members, they come out of FF1 with the attitude "I know more than you", [ Hence Chief Billy Goldfedder's term "6/22's", 6 months in the service , but 22 yrs. experience]. I'm sure there are those that take offense to this, as I stated I was  one once myself.

To Sum this all up, I propose the following, That every Firefighter should take the time to seek out a Local FOOLs chapter and join, learn the true meaning of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood, Instead of preaching it ,start living it.

      As for me, my time is short as a Chief Officer, but have no fear , I will continue as a Firefighter, I will mentor the younger members and encourage them to seek out training they need to better themselves . I have several goals left to accomplish , one is to attend FDIC, provided I can afford the time and money to attend , The second is to be a better Husband , Father, Friend and most of all a Brother Firefighter , before i reach the point i can no longer do it.

FTM-PTB-KTF-EGH-DTRT-RFB