Iron Firemen Wooden Ladders & Iron Firemen
Rhett and I are in Atlanta, Ga. We left “The Noke” at 10am and drove 8hrs South. Well …. I drove 8 hrs … Rhett rode shotgun and complained the entire way. Guess who gets to drive home….LOL
Read Rhett’s ( The Fire Critic’s ) post on our journey HERE
If you hit the link above, you already know that this trip has several purposes. I’ll hit them briefly for ya.
1st. Rhett has family here in Atlanta. A sister, her husband and their 1 year old son (yea … Rhett is an Uncle). We stopped and stayed at his sisters house yesterday. We’re having fun already! Rhett and I are like family and even though I have never met his sister, she took me in as if I was just another brother. She even had a cooler FULL of my favorite beer waiting for when we arrived. What’s my “favorite” beer ??? COLD ! LMAO. All kidding aside Valesha has taken VERY good care of us. Their home is beautiful and her family tops that 10 fold.
I’m an early riser so I’m sitting here now waiting to watch the sun rise over Atlanta … YOU SHOULD BE HERE TOO !
I say that seriously because the 2nd reason we are here is to participate in our 2nd 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. THAT’S RIGHT … OUR 2nd! At 10 am this morning, we will be climbing the Weston Peachtree Plaza in momory and honor of our 343 fallen brothers from the World Trade Center.
Read about our 1st climb HERE HERE HERE and HERE !
This climb will be a little different than the one in Baltimore. Here, we will climb 71 stories before returning to the lobby to complete the final 39 . If you haven’t made a climb yet and have ever waved the “Never Forget” flag, YOU NEED TO!
Regaurdless of status ( Paid or Volunteer ) or rank, find a climb and participate.
We are rapidly approaching the 10 yr anniversary of the attacks and everyone is busy planning Memorial services etc. What better way to remember and honor those we lost than by completing their climb?
I hope we have good participation this morning. FRI (Fire Rescue International), I think; typically is attended by and geared more towards Chief Officers rather than back seat firemen. It seemed that way in Chicago last year anyway. I hope the Chiefs in attendance here in Atlanta step up and climb as well. There were plenty of Chiefs climbing 10 years ago!
Our Chief, and 7 other members from our Department (of various ranks) are here in Atlanta. I hope they brought their gear and plan to attend. How cool would it be for Rhett and I to be able to climb with our Chief ? Our Department has big plans for the 10th anniversary. We will be hosting a regional “Rememberance” ceromony with Roanoke County, Vinton and the City of Salem. Chief Counts of Salem has even designed and purchased new shirts for his members to wear on duty. It’s my understanding that they will wear these every day … not just on September 11th. That’s the back of the shirt pictured on the side.
Any way, I’ll post more after we climb and get checked in to our hotel. Bottom line is that if you are here, we hope to see you there … climbing or in support of those of us who are.
OK, we are also here for FRI … Fire Rescue International. We will have our hands into all sorts of thing while “on the floor”. I will be working with / helping our good friend Zach Green in the Fox Fire booth. Rhett will be in and out of the booth. Make plans to stop by. We will give you a personal demo of the Fox Fire product line ….. you’ll be AMAZED!
As usual, we are running late…. I’m a slow typer. After the climb, we will find the closest beer and lunch. LOOK US UP !! We love meeting new people. Shoot us a text message at 540-597-8068 or 540-537-8158. We will be staying at the Peachtree following the climb. We have the suite … YEA … THAT’S HOW WE ROLL !!! LMAO.
I’ll update ya soon. Until then, Stay safe and in house!
Captain Wines