Iron Firemen Wooden Ladders & Iron Firemen
Sorry folks… I’ve been idle for a bit. You guys already know I’m kinda busy and it takes me so long to type these posts out that I just decided to take a “mini-vacation”. Now, I have a lot of catching up to do. This morning, I have a little something for your eyes and something to warm your heart as well.
I’ll begin with my last post. Dave Statter said (in the comment section) that the picture of me and the Buckaroo shirtless in bed “ruined the magic by showing what is really behind Iron Firemen”. LMAO He went on to discuss “dress code” at the Statter Home Office / Head Quarters and likened the pic to a Firefighter advancing a line without proper PPE. Well, I wanted to assure Dave that the “attire” of that morning was not typical. Honestly, I’m kinda shocked that Dave didn’t investigate the story further before poking fun at my 100% natural body. Maybe we have “Casual Fridays” here at Iron Firemen. Did ya ever consider that Dave? We value our employees THAT MUCH! LOL. And, just to put your mind at ease… here we are working fully dressed..
Ok, I’m fully dressed (less my boots) but the Buckaroo is the true CEO of Iron Firemen and I can’t tell him what to wear. Now, speaking of 1/2 naked firefighters / bloggers etc… I have been found. I never knew I was lost but apparently I was. It seems as though Hydrant Girl didn’t know / realize I made the move over to the Fire/EMS Blog Network. She has been looking for post / updates over at the old address. Well, I’m glad she found me and will say that I never lost her. She is a regular read of mine and is even listed under “Captain’s Favorites” over on the right sidebar. She has been doing a “30 day Blog Challenge” thingy and one of em was to post I pic you like (or are proud of ) of yourself. Here’s the shot she picked….
WOW! Congratulations and way to go Hydrant Gal. She’s been working really hard to get her certifications and to get into better shape (she’s also a little farm / country gal so I don’t think she was too “shabby” to begin with) and it seems as though the hard work has paid off. Now, I too used to do the “gym setting” workout thing but quit in an effort to get raises for the brothers and sisters in my Department. You see, if I had continued and “bulked up” like Hydrant Gal, the City would have had to buy me all new uniforms. New shirts, pants and even PPE. I would much rather maintain my current size / shape and have the city put that money towards a raise for the men…
LMAO….. keep up the good work Hydrant Gal.. otherwise you’ll fall off to near nothing and look like this. Ok, moving on; I told you I had something for your eyes (Hydrant Gal) and something for your heart (or belly). Yesterday, my Local (IAFF L-1132) hosted a breakfast for our retired members. Rhett Fleitz (Fire Critic) and I started doing this several years back and each event seems to get bigger. I’ll start with adding a Link that FireGeezer had up a week or so ago. I meant to add the link here and have you guys take a look and never got around to it. YOU NEED TO READ THIS! This is why we have the breakfast. To show the guys that they are NOT forgotten. They appreciate it.. I assure you. You can see it in their eyes. You can feel it in the grip when they shake your hand and say “Thank You”. There’s some irony huh??? They are thanking us?!
These are the men who built the Department that I wanted to work for. They are the reason I wanted on the job. This is a very simple and easy way to give a little something back. A chance to get together with old friends. To share stories / memories etc. and they did plenty of that. We had somewhere near 90 retirees attend the event! WOW! That’s the good news. The bad… we had very little help from our new/ young / current members. My dad (retired) was there at 6am to help me in the kitchen (a retiree cooking for the retiree’s breakfast). Rhett followed soon (after picking up a few last minute items). Our youngest member in attendance was Drew Able from Station #3-A. Drew helped cook, serve, clean and even acted as the official photographer (the pics I’m going to use here are mine but we will get Drew’s up soon). Our President Rodney Jordan also arrived to help in anyway possible. Retirees Wayne Hall and Chuck Wells also worked their tails off to assure everything went off without a hitch. THANKS GUYS!
That makes 7 men working for 90. Of the 7, only 4…… 4…… are currently on the job… That STINKS! I really thought that more of our members would have came out in service of the men who came before us. I know a lot of the newer guys don’t know most or any of the retirees but, that’s the point. Come out to events like this so you can meet and get to know these men! Is 1/2 a day too much to ask? Some really big things happened Tuesday. Rhett brought his Firefighter Netcast equipment. We had the guys sit down one on one or in groups and tell a few stories. We recorded it! The stories you hear around the station from “back in the day” told by the men behind em! WOW! What an awesome piece of history for / from our Department! At our last breakfast, we accidentally got Retired Captain Pete Price talking about driving one of the old “Grey Ghost”. He was famous for it. We got him telling the story on Tuesday at the breakfast and he passed away the following Saturday. Again… this stuff is important to those of us who care about the job. It’s important to those who have sacrificed and worked this job. Important to us, them and those to come. To the 7 who helped pull it off… THANKS AGAIN! To those who couldn’t find the time.. shame on you! Here are a few pics…
I’m gonna stop here for now. I’ll get back to regular postings this evening. I have a few topic I want to hit (as mentioned in a previous post). Marci Stone made Chief in Bedford and tomorrow is Keith “Meat” Blankinship’s last day on duty. Tune in later for all that and so much more. Thanks for hanging in, finding and following. Don’t forget to “friend” us on “Picture Book” and tell all your friends. Until next one, stay safe and in house.
Captain Wines