"And Here Is Tonight's Headline..."

I first joined a volunteer fire department in 1977 when living in the greater Greensboro NC area. It was the Guilford College Fire Department and the chief was Chief Bobby T. Wilson. There were two subjects that Chief Wilson was a true expert on, the use of foam and chemical fire suppressant (Purple-K) and how to spec out a new piece of fire apparatus.

During the 3 1/2 years I was with the department, I was asked to provide my input on two pieces of apparatus. And the brand name that the chief insisted on was Pierce Manufacturing. Could we have purchased an "off-the-shelf" vehicle for less money? Sure we could. But it would not have had the time, quality, and manufacturing pride that a Pierce gives you. Simply put, if you want a run-of-the-mill piece of fire-apparatus, go buy the cheaper model. If you want the "Cadillac" of fire equipment, then Pierce is the one to turn to.

Today, I had the pleasure of visiting one of the Pierce Manufacturing plants in Appleton WI. My host was Chet. Chet is one of those people at Pierce that wears many hats. When an order comes in, he examines it and hands-off copies to the proper departments. He helps coordinate the client's wishes with the manufacturing process to assure that 6-11 months later, that customer is 100% satisfied with the delivery of the fire apparatus.

I'll be posting all the quick photos I took over on my personal blog (http://greenesaga.blogspot.com/) but the most important aspect of my visit is not found in any of the pictures that I took. As we walked around the plant, Chet was showing me how the professional trucks are put together, from the basic frame to the finished product, ready for delivery. Every vehicle has a set of blueprints with all the details and the name of the ordering customer. In addition, on the front windshield, there is a simple piece of paper also with the customer name and the order number. In the latter part of our tour, as we passed several trucks that were not quite ready for delivery, I looked up to the windshield of one and saw that the customer was a gas/oil company located in South Africa! I did a double take and asked Chet, "Do you really manufacture and ship apparatus to South Africa?" "Sure," he replied. "We sell them all over the world, including China."

Now throughout the past ninety minutes I had been thinking about when and where would my opening come to bring up our cause to Chet. Where, in the tour of this massive manufacturing facility, would I have the chance to say, "Oh and by the way...." In the European language called Yiddish (a mixture of Hebrew, English, German, and French), we might have said that that moment was "bashert," or "fated." The main reason I am in Appleton is to lead High Holiday services to celebrate the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement. During this period, we entreat the Lord above to forgive our sins of the past year and promise us a healthy and happy new year and to grant our important requests. One might say that He just may have been listening to me. For this display on this engine that it was being shipped to South Africa provided me with the perfect opening to bring up the matter with Chet.

He listened attentively and acknowledged that on tomorrow's visit, he will hopefully have the contact information we will need to approach the marketing and public relations department with our request. I could not have asked for more.

And that goes for the tour as well. Chet didn't spare any space or any details. Well, there was one, the R&D area (Research & Development) and I could certainly understand why. Yet even without seeing that room, it was easy to see why Pierce was and is the leader in custom fire apparatus. The innovations that have been made in the last thirty-two years involving apparatus handling and safety, firefighting ability, storage and accessibility, water flow management and so much more, are all that an old-time snot-nosed, belly-crawling, nozzle-jockey like me, could ever ask for.

As we walked down "Innovation Alley" towards the end of our tour, I look at each feature and quickly flashed back to a memory of an incident that I had faced and how this innovation would have affected or helped my fellow firefighters and me. Almost any one of them might have changed the way we responded, the ride to or from a call, or any of several other factors, "back in the day." And, I learned that Pierce has opened a plant in Bradenton FL.

Was that it? Am I upset and disappointed that all I may get out of this is a contact name to contact for our cause to help Chimp Eden? Absolutely not! Thanks to my wonderful local contact Jeff, who set-up the tours and to Chet, my personal Pierce "tour-guide," I was able to bring explain our cause to a very responsible member of the Pierce team and will look forward to whatever information he will provide. After that, it will be a "full-court" press, to responsibly and respectfully present our cause to the right people at the right time.

So what else is there? Tomorrow or Wednesday, Chet will be taking me over to the second site, where the aerials, rescue trucks, and ARFF's (Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting) apparatus are all fabricated. What comes after that? The satisfaction that after these thirty or so years, I finally made it to the ultimate "candy store."

'Til Next Time...

The Struggle Continues...

Earlier this week, my wife and I returned from our cruise to Alaska. Although we did not see as much of Alaska's beautiful wildlife on this trip as we did two years, almost any wildlife that you see there is amazing.

We did get to see several whales and a couple of otters. Boy, are they characters! However, seeing the whales reminded me of a valuable lesson. Just a couple of decades ago, several species of our beautiful whales were close to extinction. It was such a critical time that even the 4th "Star Trek" motion picture used the theme of the disappearing humpback whales as the key aspect of the main story! Yet, through education and negotiation, most of the nations where these whales swam in their waters, agreed to a whale hunting ban. Back then, there were approximately 5,000-6,000 whales. Today, nearly 20 years later, there is an estimated population of 60,000! So what does this have to do with our efforts?

The whales were spread out all over the world. Yet, through proper education and negotiation, those countries were convinced to make a change. And while many of us support a plethora of wildlife causes, our singular cause here, is to protect the humans and animals at just one, wonderful location, Chimp Eden at the Jane Goodall Institute.

As I remarked in the previous posting, I brought our cause to Facebook and as of this morning, we have 55 members there. Additionally, I have been in touch with Sue Slotar, the Executive Director of the Institute, to see if our story and/or blog, could be included in the "JGI News & Headlines" section of the new web site. And if you haven't visited the new website, you really owe it to yourself to do so! (www.janegoodall.org)

At Facebook, we currently have 55 members who have joined our cause there. And this morning, I charged them with their individual responsibility to recruit just two more members, each. By tonight, that would be approximately 165 members. And if each of them recruit two members...well you see what the algorithm could do.

Now imagine that at my meeting in September, I am able to show the manufacturer that there are thousands of people from around the world, who want to voice their feelings that the people and chimps at Chimp Eden in particular and the Jane Goodall Institute, as a whole. And I can prove those numbers through Facebook and the comments on this blog.

The only problem with this, is that while we're gaining numbers on Facebook (yet nowhere near the numbers we truly need), there are only a couple of comments registered on this blog. Yet I know through the site managing software, that there are plenty more visitors who stop by, yet for whatever reason, fail to leave a comment, even if it's just, "Well said," or "I agree."

I am not asking you to write a complete blog article, just a simple comment will suffice. Of course, if you do come here, you are obligated, just as the Facebook members are, to recruit at least two additional visitors and explain to them, that it is, in turn, each of their responsibility, to recruit two visitors, etc.

If you all do this, imagine the numbers we will reach! Imagine if I am able to demonstrate to the manufacturer that I have hundreds, no thousands or tens-of-thousands of supporters, who read this blog and believe in our mission. It gives me goose bumps just to think of it.

So please, if you stop my here, just leave a comment. Short or long, it doesn't matter. Just say something! Thank you!

Till next time...

Attention!!

It is July 14th and I happen to be on a mini-vacation in Key West, FL. We (my lovely wife & I) were supposed to go fishing this morning, but in Florida, Mother Nature rules all. A brief but powerful rainstorm delayed our departure and then 90 minutes later, a large thunderstorm cell moved in and we headed back to our hotel. (More info about the above will be found at my personal blog, http://greenesaga.blogspot.com/)

Naturally I bought along some reading material, including the latest edition of Firehouse(R) magazine. I've been a long-standing subscriber for almost the entire span since I first joined a volunteer fire department in 1977. When I began this campaign to help Chimp Eden, I emailed a "letter to the Editor" at the magazine. I quickly received a very courteous and professional response that asked me if it could be used editorially. I quickly agreed. Now bear in mind, Firehouse(R) received numerous letters every month and I assume, due to space requirements only prints a very few.

When we returned to the hotel this morning, I grabbed the magazine, plopped myself down into a chair and began to read. There, at the head of the letters column was my story about Chimp Eden and the plea for assistance. So to Firehouse(R) Magazine, its long-time editor, Harvey Eisner (himself, a volunteer firefighter for many years) and to the entire editorial staff at Cygnus Business Publishing, a big thank you for supporting this very important cause.

At this juncture, it appears that I must make one point absolutely clear: We are NOT soliciting, requesting, begging, etc., for ANY donations! DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT ATTEMPT IN ANY WAY TO SEND US MONEY! WE ARE NOT SEEKING PUBLIC FUNDS IN ANY MANNER, FOR THIS PROJECT! Get it?

So, you must be asking yourself, "If he doesn't want money, what does this crazy guy want?"

What I want and desperately need, is your help and assistance. I have written to all the major manufacturers of fire apparatus in the U.S. and in South Africa. And I am sure that most of my emails were met with a quick press of the "delete" key. But there is power in numbers and position (rank).

You do not even have to invest in postage (at least, not yet!). All we are asking for is for you to read through this site and send an email to the various manufacturers listed. Just the fact that Firehouse(R) and Cygnus have provided us with this exposure and wonderful and a great boost to this campaign.

In this age when the average family sees the need for one or both parents to work two jobs just to get by, the price of oil and gas soaring so high that many folks are leaving their "four-wheeler" at home, but many large corporations are making unheard of billions of dollars in profits, it's time to put some of those profits to better use than lining pockets. What better way than to truly live up to the standards advertised in every edition of "Firehouse(R) and every other industry magazine, and help this campaign provide a small, yet effective, brush truck that will save lives and property for many, who have no way of saving themselves.

A year ago, fans of the television show, "JERICHO" were so outraged that the show was canceled after just one season, without any resolution, that they organized a massive online campaign and sent over FOUR TONS of peanuts to the CBS offices in New York and Hollywood (most of which were donated to our brave men and women fighting overseas).

Now, I am not asking you to bombard these vehicle manufacturers with old boots, hose and turnout gear. I AM asking you to invest a few minutes to learn all about Chimp Eden and the TV show, "Escape to Chimp Eden(R)" on Discovery's Animal Planet (http://animal.discovery.com/tv/chimp-eden/chimp-eden.html), write some emails to the manufacturers and talk it up with your family and friends.

Once you learn about The Jane Goodall Institute and Chimp Eden and watch a few episodes of the show (Animal Planet posts a TV schedule on the website), you too will want to join this very important effort. Listen, we're the crazy ones, right? We run in when everybody else is running out. Once on scene, we do everything possible to save lives and property, often with the ultimate cost. This is your chance to perform those same tasks without taking a step close to any fire emergency. Please remember that we're not talking about just saving the lives of the chimps, but also of the many people who live in and work at the Institute, as well as countless other wildlife that has been brought to the Sanctuary for various reasons.

Listen, I know, because I've been there. Then men and women of the fire/rescue service of every single country are some of the best people in the world. When someone needs help, we show up. We fix, we repair, we replace, we install, we comfort, we cry, we laugh, we care.

Please, please, help us now. I'm sounding your pager; I'm ringing your alarm bell. I'm toning your alerts. It's time to respond. Together. Thank you.