Help out at the State Fair
Hello. It’s hard to believe that August is here already. Summer festivals are mostly behind us, and the State Fair is right around the corner. Speaking of the Fair, there is still opportunities for you and your fellow firefighters to represent your department at the Iowa State Fair working the Hall of Flame booth. If you haven’t ever worked the Hall of Flame, it’s a fun interactive booth educating our youth about fire prevention. The Hall of Flame continues to be a high priority for the IFA as it is an effective way to reach so many people. Please ask your department to sign up for a shift and when your done you can spend the rest of the day taking in all the fun of the Fair.
We all know that once the fair comes to an end its time to prepare for Convention. I have a favor to ask of all of you that have an antique truck sitting in your station. This year marks the 145th IFA Convention and it also is the 150th anniversary of the Iowa Falls Fire Department. The favor I ask is that you make a grand effort to get these apparatuses to Iowa Falls for the convention parade on Saturday night. We all take so much pride in preserving these apparatuses, you need to take pride in showing them off and fill this parade with the horse drawn steamers, hand carts, pumpers, tankers, fire prevention floats, honor guards, or whatever it is that your department is proud of and show it off. The departments of central Iowa have done our part in getting our trucks to all the corners of the state at previous conventions and now it’s your turn to return the favor by bringing yours to our parade.
The next topic I have is the IFA drills. I am starting to contact drill judges, and timers for this year’s contests. If you haven’t heard from me yet and you’d like to help, please give me a call and I’ll find a place for you to help. To all you convention goers I encourage you to participate in the drills. These contests are an excellent opportunity to connect with fellow firefighters in a fun competitive environment as you represent your City and Fire Department.
Everything our generation does today is the legacy we leave behind when we are gone. So, ask yourselves, “What is your Legacy?” Let’s do all we can to make sure it’s a great one.
Until next time serve with pride!
Chuck Raska,
IFA President