Mid-year meeting coming up March 21

Greetings to my fellow firefighters and families hope all is well in your communities.  We have had a difficult winter season with the extreme cold, and I hope you all survived the Iowa weather.  

Well, were into another legislative season.  We held another Firefighter on the Hill January 28.  I have to say we had a good showing as we had 10 roasters of chili.   A new entry this year was the Red Knights MC IA Chapter 3 from Davenport area.  Along with various other departments it was a very successful year as we left the capital with no Chili.  We were also able to meet with House Majority Leader Kaufman, Senate President Sinclair & Majority Leader Klemish, Senate Minority Leader Weiner, and House Majority Leader Representative Meyer.   We thanked them for all for supporting the volunteers of their Iowa communities.  We also explained the need we have for mental and physical health for our volunteers.  Explaining to them how a state membership with the Nation Volunteer Fire Council could fill that at a lower expense then creating our own program.  So as I always say we need your help to tell your story to your representatives as you vote for them, it means more when they hear from you “the voters”.  

I had the Honor this month to visit with the Robins Fire Department and present Chief Keith Feldkamp a 30-year award happy to see the support they have as their City Council attended the presentation.       

Well with that we have a couple events coming up the first is the Mid-Year meeting at the Hyatt Regency Coralville Iowa.  I invite you to attend we have two candidates for the fifth vice to visit with, and we also have Bruce Linger from HeroPlus Program to answer any question on LOSAP.  

As I close, I would like to encourage you to talk and listen to each other as we need to stay strong physically and mentally to provide outstanding service to protect our communities. As we are a brotherhood and sisterhood of the fire service, so we must support each other to stay strong. So, take care of each other, if you have a concern for someone point it out to your leadership, as we are strongest when we take care of ourselves. 

Kent Brix, IFA President