Where there’s smoke…

   It has been a real experience getting a hold on this Treasurer job. Every day I do it, I appreciate Dan Romine all the more. It is more than keeping the books; the book sales can be a little overwhelming. This is a good opportunity, though, to encourage you to go to the www.ksffa.com and look at our store. The books are all there – and eventually we will be adding in the T-shirts and other logo merchandise.  Recently the executive board authorized the purchase of point-of-sale equipment so handling sales at our regional fire schools is much easier – and we can keep track of our inventory. Our executive director has introduced us to a great system for keeping track of our book inventory as well. Most books ship the same day the order is received if we have them in stock – and generally not more than a week when we have to order in items from our vendors. Check out our prices and I think you will find we are very competitive – plus you support your state association!  

   I was recently in Oklahoma for a meeting of the National Volunteer Fire Council. While there we had a meeting at the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association building in Oklahoma City – which also houses their museum.  Kansas has a great museum at Wichita, but the folks in Oklahoma have been collecting for a long time and I was amazed at the collection which includes items from all over the nation. If you are ever in that part of the world, it is well worth stopping. In fact, make a day of it. Oklahoma City is only a couple of hours from Wichita – you can visit both museums.  

   At the regional schools we continue to see an uptick in the number of young folks getting involved in the fire service – which is really great to see.  Even those of us who have been around for a little longer, can still learn lots at the schools – some from the instructors and often from the other students. The fire service is amazing. While we are it, the state association hosted a preview of the movie: Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat which is taking the country by storm. Contact the NVFC at www.nvfc.org to arrange for a screening where you can show it in your community – and hold the event in such a manner as to get non-firefighters to the event. The movie showcases volunteer fire departments in Nebraska, Texas, Washington, Maryland and Virginia.  It’s a great film and it’s a great resource to get more volunteers. Thanks to John Deere for all of their investment in the film. It is up to us to use it for the purpose it was intended. And remember the guy that started this ball rolling is from Mission Hills, Kansas and his interviews with many Kansas firefighters was what got John Deere interested in the project – so we should be very proud of what we as Kansans did to get this project off the ground, because where there’s smoke…