Thoughts From the Tailboard
As I finish this month’s ramblings, the outside temp is and has been for several days in excess of 100. Holy crud. Of course it’s supposed to cool off this weekend, down to 99, boy guess I’ll have to break out the overcoat to stay warm. Oh well, what do you expect in South Dakota in mid-July. Just wait till August!!!!
Great Lakes Energy donated more than $370,000 to local fire departments for grain bin rescue equipment, breathing gear, water storage tanks, rescue tools, and PPE. It is great to see local companies helping those who help them. Thank you GLE.
Lots of photos from Fire School. If you were in one or more of those photos, way to go. Congratulations and thank you for coming to fire school. If you decided not to go to fire school this year, see what you missed. I see nothing but smiles, looks of determination and wow, what a class.
Governor Larry Rhoden was at fire school. Any time we can get elected leaders to attend our functions and see what we do, it’s well worth it. You can look at the various photos in the July issue of South Dakota Firefighter paper and see he was at many different classes and met with many individuals. Thank you Governor for coming to fire school.
The annual Fall conference will be held on October 2, 3, & 4th. This year the conference will be at the Pete Lien Shooting Complex. I know the address says Piedmont, but it is 10 miles north of Exit 61 on I-90. The road going north is Elk Vale Rd and is black top except for the last ½ mile. The address is 14514 Bill Janklow Rd, Piedmont. Phone is 605-566-5961. It is a public shooting range, and some portions are free of charge, other portions require a small membership fee. There are many motels at Exit 61. Call the shooting range and ask for further details if you would like to come and shoot. It is a great facility.
Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service will be Sunday, September 27 at 1:00 PM CDT. The Memorial Service will be outside this year as the Capital is being worked on. Plan for the weather. We will be adding the name of Nick Van Dam to the Memorial. Rest in Peace Nick.
A few weeks ago, at our monthly Saturday morning training one of our new members asked me how he could become a better firefighter? How could he contribute more to the department? He’s completed Firefighter I and II, Wildland basic, etc. What made me think was how do I answer him? What do I say to this very motivated firefighter who has their feet on the ground? I wasn’t prepared to give him an answer right away. We plan on sitting down soon and talk about it. So, let me ask you, if a new motivated firefighter asked you the same question, what would be your answer? I’ll let you know next month what my answer was.
Well, this is enough for one month, besides with the heat outside I think my computer is starting to overheat. Oh, wait maybe is just me.
Stay safe, before engaging in any fire suppression look around first.
Denny Gorton