FRANK J. UNDERWOOD 1st Vice President Maryland State Firemen s Association April 12, 2008 Ocean City is quickly approaching and I am looking forward to the MSFA presidential election. For the past 4 years I have prepared myself to lead the MSFA: I have established my committees, built up a long and solid list of supporters and most importantly, I have listened and learned. I have established my Executive Committee meeting locations and have set my goals. I will firm up my Executive Committee appointments after the close of this meeting. I have important goals for the MSFA and I need supporters who will work closely with me in reaching them. My number one goal is to make certain that the MSFA remains a united and well respected organization. Annapolis has been an exciting experience and I have come a long way in learning the ins and outs. I have had many supporters helping me to learn the ropes over the years, and thank them for their assistance. I have attended many Annapolis hearings and Taylor Avenue Friday meetings. At these meetings everyone gets a chance to go over the bills that are important to the MSFA and to discuss them with our Fire and EMS partners. I want to thank Danny and his Legislative Committee crew for all of their help. Since our last meeting I have traveled thousands of miles around the state. Over the past few months I have attended many types of meetings: county association, budget, training, anti-terrorism, fire commission and ladies auxiliary, to name a few. Many times I was accompanied by MSFA past presidents and other members of our association. I always enjoy hearing my car-pool partners tell about experiences they had while traveling the same roads for the MSFA. On a sad note, we recently lost several important members of the MSFA family. One was Ron Graf, chairman of our Awards Committee. I had just attended a banquet with him one evening and then a committee meeting the next morning. He told me he was seeing the doctor that week and was greatly worried about the results of the test. The next thing we knew he was gone. My heart goes out to Evelyn and the family, Ron will be greatly missed. Another great loss was Jack Gouty, He fought hard to recover from his stroke, but had suffered long enough. He served on many committees and held many titles during his life, so his passing left a void in several organizations. To Margaret, we are here to support you when you need us.
In addition, we lost one of our past presidents, Howard Springer. Paul and I had the honor of attending his viewing on February 22nd. The family was very appreciative that several representatives from the MSFA attended the viewing and that so many past presidents came to the funeral. Last Sunday I had the honor of attending the Easton Volunteer Fire Department dedication ceremony for their new pumper and both of their buildings. The buildings were dedicated to Gene Butler and Henry Purdy. My congratulations to Gene and to the family of Henry Butler for this honor: to have a fire station dedicated to you is something to be proud of. To the membership of Easton, may this year be something everyone will remember for years to come. It is not often you hear of any organization lasting 200 years. You should be proud. So that everyone can make their plans, the Executive Committee meeting dates for the coming year are as follows: August 23-23 @ Branchville (2008) December 6-7 @ Pittsville (2008) February 21-22 @ Smithsburg (2009) April 25-26 @ Chestertown (2009) On a recent note, as many of you probably heard by now, this past Monday in Annapolis was not a good day. Our Appropriation Funds were cut in a way we never thought would happen. We will have to spend the next year setting our funding priorities and trying to re-gain lost ground. Politics are tough, as we found out. Never count your money until it s in the till.
February 2008 Schedule 1st VP MSFA 19 ATAC meeting Wicomico County Association meeting 20 PG Fire Commission meeting 21 Washington County Association meeting 22 Annapolis 9 a.m. Viewing for Past President Springer 23 PG County audit (FSB) 24 Viewing for Ron Graf 26 Funeral for Ron Graf Meeting with the City of College Park 8:00 p.m. 29 Annapolis 9 a.m.
March 2008 Schedule 1st VP MSFA 1 Christian Firefighters breakfast Greenbelt Independent Hose Company # banquet 2 Allegany-Garrett County Association meeting 3 Fire Caucus Annapolis Convention meeting P.G. Co. 4 Pull Over Hearing Annapolis 5 PG Fire Commission 6 CPR class Capitol Heights Executive Directors Work group 7 Annapolis 9 a.m. Viewing for Jack Gouty 8 Region 5 Scene Safety Fire Prevention meeting MFRI Funeral for Jack Gouty Mt. Airy banquet 10 Fire Caucus Annapolis 4 p.m. 11 MSFA convention meeting Greenbelt 12 P.G. County Association meeting @ Forestville 13 Metro Chief s 10 a.m. Annapolis 14 Annapolis 9 a.m.
15 Greenbelt banquet Training Committee 16 Breakfast w/easter Bunny Safety Committee Waldorf 10 a.m. 17 Infection control class 18 ATAC 19 PG Fire Commission 20 MD Fire-Rescue Education Training Commission AA Headquarters 21 Annapolis 9 a.m. 24 PG Budget meeting Marlboro 26 ATAC meeting 27 Annapolis hearing Caroline County Association @ Federalsburg 28 Annapolis 9 a.m. 29 Ladies Auxiliary Spring Conference @ Gamber 30 Meeting with Executive Committee Vice-Chair 31 Mrs. Reynolds s funeral Southern Maryland Association @ Seventh District
April 2008 Schedule 1st VP MSFA 1 Budget Hearing PG County Annapolis hearing on House Bill 1 2 National Fallen Firefighters reception 4 Annapolis 9 a.m. Anne Arundel County Association @ Orchard Beach 5 Christian Firefighters @ Greenbelt 6 Easton Dedication 7 Annapolis Final Session 8 EMS Board @ MIEMSS CPR class 9 PG Association @ Clinton 11 Leave for Executive Committee Meeting at Solomons 12 Executive Committee Meeting 13 Executive Committee Meeting