Heck, I even met my wife in a classroom. The year was 1964 and the place was dear old Southern Freehold Regional High School. It was a magic time in my life, but sadly, like most kids, I didn?t realize how nice it really was.
I was a senior and we were opening a new school and establishing traditions. Our football team won the first conference championship in nearly a decade. The same held true for our track team. More than that, our gymnastics team won the state championship. Not bad for a small, new school out in the middle of a former marl bog in Howell Township, New Jersey.
I can recall the day as though it were yesterday. I entered Mr. Ugrovic?s Western Civilization class and sauntered to the back of the classroom. You must remember that jocks did not sit up front in any classroom in that era. We just sat in the rear of the room and tried to bask in the coolness of being cool in the back row.
There in the front seat of my row sat the charming Jackie Miller. She was cute, she was pleasant, and more than that, she was really smart. She played the trombone in the band, sang in the choir, and was an officer on the Library Council, the Future Nurse?s Club, and the Girl?s Athletic Association. She was bright, pretty, and popular. She even made it to the National Honor Society. Wow!
Our first date was really not an actual date, but a study trip to the county library in Freehold. She was the perfect partner for a trip to the library. Not only did she know the topics quite well, she was smart and also worked at the library. She sure knew her way around the books stacks. I am sure that my grades improved simply because I had the privilege of studying with her.
To this very day, she still breaks my chops about how I offered to take her to the local Burger Chef for some ?liquid refreshments.? She keeps telling our children that I was too cheap to spring for a full meal. I was trying to be cool and apparently failing miserably. Since the burgers were $.20, the fries $.25, and the large sodas $.30, I guess liquid refreshments did seem a bit ?cheap.? But what the heck, I had my 1955 Plymouth and a full tank of gas (at $.25 per gallon).
However, I guess I did triumph in the long run, because after many years of acting like a real ass, I straightened up, and managed to win her heart. Ah, but that is a story for another time.
This coming week is that one week in a year when several thousand of us are heading back to the classroom. More specifically we are converging on Indianapolis for the Fire Department Instructor?s Conference, just as instructors have since the very first session in 1928.
For my teaching buddies and I this annual pilgrimage has come to play a great part in the success we have enjoyed within the fire service. I attended my first FDIC in Memphis back in 1977. Since then I have only missed two conferences, and then only because of job-related injuries.
At lot of folks wonder why people like me continue to sing the praises of the FDIC after all of these years. Simply stated, it is the place to go if you want to learn from the working, ?hands-on? leaders in the fire service. The conference runs the gamut from A to Z in terms of covering the most up-to-date topics and concerns in our world.
Personally, this conference has always served to re-charge my batteries. It always has and I hope it always will. I have been offered the opportunity to interact with many exciting and enthusiastic people. The topics run all the way from the basic to the advanced.
Back in the old days, which for many of you younger troops out there, predates PowerPoint programs and flashy multimedia video and slide shows, we learned how to make and use better overlays to get our points across. We were taught how to teach people, raise ladders, lay hose, and rescue endangered citizens.
A great many new products and ideas have received their premier at the FDIC. The great fires and tragedies have been covered through the years by the people who suffered through them. The key has always been an open attitude about sharing our hard-earned lessons and experience.
A great deal of what I have learned over the years has come from the scores of main-program and breakout educational sessions I have attended. One of the hallmarks of this conference is the blending of veterans and brand new instructors. Many of us got our start at the FDIC. My first shot at the big time came back in 1979 when I delivered a main program session on communications in front of a crowd of 2,000 people in Memphis, Tennessee.
Many of my pals in the fire service and I got to know each other at this conference. If you are going to be with us in Indianapolis I would urge you to stop by my session on Leadership. It will be held at 1500 hr. on Wednesday.
My friend Bill Goldfeder suggests that those of us who will be there need to make a special effort to get to the opening session. I agree. This is always a very special and moving time. This is one place where tradition has a good feeling and the proper connotation.
My volunteer fire department is sending six people to the conference this year. We are sending a solid mix of veterans and younger troops. They are all looking forward to their hard work at the hand?s-on sessions and their later classroom sessions. Our department has moved ahead because the knowledge that has been garnered from the multitude of sessions over the past 15 years that we have been sending a delegation.
It is probably too late to get a hotel room within easy driving distance of the downtown convention area, however for those of you in the immediate vicinity, remember that you can get one-day and multiple-day passes to attend the educational sessions and visit the exhibit hall.
If you have never attended an educational conference, I would suggest that you get off your dead butt and come into the 21st Century. We suffer as a fire service because far too many local ?smart guys? and ?know-it-alls? are too stupid to know how stupid they are.
Whether it is the FDIC, Firehouse Expo, or Fire-Rescue International, pick one, register and attend. If you can?t do it this year, budget for next year. If you can?t afford airfare - drive. Our guys are driving from New Jersey to Indiana on Sunday. They are driving back the next Saturday.
Worse yet, the leaders of far too many departments are just plain cheap. They fail to recognize that dollars spent on education and learning is really cheap money. But I guess since I cannot show you how many dollars it takes to save a life, many among you just will not believe me.
Only once in my career in Newark did the department provide any financial support. In the early years, I had to take vacation or use personal days in order to attend. Even when I was the chief of training I had to pay my own way, but by then I was addicted to the annual educational pilgrimage.
Why, you might ask, do I still attend? Hell gang, I don?t want to be left behind. If you are going to be a leader, you must be out in front, studying the newest ideas, and learning from the people who know.
It is for all of these reasons that I am looking forward to my journey this week. Once again, I will be back in the classroom, trying to learn the newest things from the best people in the world: firefighters. Remember, if you are going to be there, look me up at 1500 hr. on Wednesday. Or stop by the Respondersafety.com booth in the exhibit hall. See you soon.
