Congratulations

Thanks are due to Glenn, Ed, and Phyllis for their work on the grant proposal for a new pumper. Ed hit the submit button last night, and the proposal was complete. Phyllis started it off with a rough draft a couple of weeks ago and Glenn and Ed spent a grueling week polishing it to perfection. The FEMA Assistance to Firefighters application rules were pretty stringent, and the final result was what we all thought a very good proposal. Well done!

A large part of a grant proposal is in documenting the personnel and the accomplishments of the fire department as a whole. This includes:

• Those who keep our books and records.



• Those who organize and come to training.



• Those who attend our business meetings.



• Those who help to raise funds, and who contribute to them.



• Those who have written proposals in the past, for that turns out to be a record of the past.



• Those who spend their vacations fighting fires elsewhere.



• Those who show up at calls, for that's why we're here.

All these things have to be established and verifiable - the first hurdle in evaluating a proposal is that it will be thrown out if these things can't be substantiated. So in addition to Glenn, Phyllis, and Ed, all those who have been a part of this deserve thanks as well.

There's another part of the documentation that goes into a grant proposal, and that's to establish the support of the community. The Wolfskin community that we serve has been steadfastly supportive through the years. We hope they realize the accomplishments they've made possible, and so a very large appreciation is due to them as well.

Thanks also to Mike Geraci, our former fire chief now in Michigan. He and colleagues encouraged and advised us in the early stages.

I don't mean to get all syrupy but you really don't realize how many efforts by so many people turn out to be important until you're involved in writing a grant proposal. It kind of lays it all out.