National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend

[FFEMT2159]

I am a FF/EMT for a small rural FD and some of our members are looking for ways to instill some traditions/ceremonies into our department. We all work hard when the tones go off which is most important but if some of us mention things like National Fallen FF Weekend we are left with blank looks. Our department does not have Class A uniforms or badges. I am looking for suggestions/idea for a small ceremony or ways to honor our brothers on National Fallen FF weekend in addition to lowering the flag. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you for your time.

[auxman]

Have you researched the history of your department to see if it may have ever lost anyone? If so, working that into the ceremony could help in that regard. Maybe work on some sort of memorial to that person(s) at the firehouse. Not necessarily a big sculputre, but at least a plaque with their name and some information about them and the event.

I'm a big believer the ability of history to motivate people. So maybe if your dept. hasn't already put together some sort of history itself you could approach the local county historical society and see if any of its members might be willing to take the lead on such a project if you don't have someone with the sort of skills and time necessary to do it.

While many might not be motivated by the facts of the department history, things like photo displays and the like might bring it home to them.

How about having certificates of service or ceremonies for those that retire after some period of service?

Some sort of event centered around the anniversary of the dept's founding?

Ceremonies of some kind when people get certified? (I wasn't too impressed when a FF on my dept just got handed his FFI certificate in front of a handful of firefighters after training while hanging around the engine. The chief did say a few good words about the importance of the event, but it probably could have been made a litte bigger deal).