Our Chief, Our Firefighters, and Our Department

I should tell you about our Fire Chief at Wolfskin VFD - Phyllis Jackson. She’s been involved with the fire department for at least twenty-five years, longer than we’ve been here. There’s no better chief - she’s excited about everything, very persuasive about getting other people involved and doing things (like this), and somehow able to push people onwards simply on the basis of optimism. AND, she’s unintrusive, which is perhaps the most remarkable quality in combination of all those other things. Phyllis came down for the Firefighters’ Weekend in Forsyth, GA, April 1-3, 2005 in the role of a Safety Officer, and we met at breakfast, lunch and dinner to discuss what was happening and to get psyched and so forth, and that’s Phyllis for you. I heard more than once people in other fire departments at nearby tables say something like “Oh yeah, everyone likes Wolfskin”, and I’ve no doubt that among all the reasons for that, Phyllis is at the top of the list.

Oh yeah, and I have to mention this - at dinner one night at the Fire Academy, I looked at Phyllis and asked Glenn, “Do you feel like we’re sharing the table with Shirley MacLaine?” Glenn said, “I’ve always felt that way." If you have an impression of Shirley MacLaine, then that’s Phyllis, except more up.

Some of us have suggested that the motto of the Wolfskin Volunteer Fire Department should include something like ‘The Progressive Fire Department’ which in some strange way might go nicely with our logo of a red wolf in full leap before a full moon. Many of you know first hand the problems that can arise in small volunteer organizations: too many egos, not enough constructive modesty. Our department went through at least one such cycle, but it has been reborn Phoenix-like with the return of older members like Glenn and myself and with lots of new members. More than one live outside Wolfskin and have cycled through several fire departments, much like churches, before finding their home at WVFD. In their words, they ‘fit in’ with Wolfskin. There are members from the community who do not fight fires but are still heavily involved in the future of the department. I think ‘progressive’ best describes our and other groups in which diverse folks are able to work together to accomplish a common goal: progress. No common background, religion, or politics define the group or its methods, but rather the group is defined by an understanding that none of these are important and none should block progress toward the common goal.

Wish the rest of the world worked this way.

(This was first published in different forms on Niches and in the Oglethorpe Echo)