Opinion : Thank you, IFA

Now that the revelry has died down and everyone has returned home. I would like to take a moment to thank our Fire Departments in Vinton and Garrison for their efforts in bringing the IFA convention to Vinton as well as their great work all year round.

The IFA event was great for business and our private organizations and an opportunity to showcase our great town. The folks who put this on undoubtedly spent a tremendous amount of time and energy to make it happen. The numerous people in our community who pitched in and played a role all made the week possible. From what I saw, our guests enjoyed their time in the area and did so responsibly. I do have to say that I worked at a golf course as a kid and I’d never seen as many golf carts as I saw last week.

Having had the opportunity to be out at the fairgrounds Thursday and Friday evening as well as the parade on Saturday I would say that all of firefighters had a lot of well-deserved fun. And I do mean a lot. But as I sat watching the parade Saturday I couldn’t help but thinking about all of those men and women and their families and what they do for all of us every day.

Firefighters have always had a special place in our family. My father has been a volunteer firefighter in Wisconsin for more than 30 years. His grandfather was a Captain with the Chicago Fire Department in the early 1900s.

So as I watched the parade it was about much more than the nearly 90 fire trucks, several hundred firefighters and dozens of kids scrambling for candy. What was amazing and inspiring was the thought that every one of those people would answer a call in the middle of the night, leave their homes and families and come rescue me or my family or save our home. And they may not even know us. And they do it for free.

Our emergency first responders are special people and they play a critical role in small towns like ours across the state. They enrich the quality of our lives every day in their roles as first responders and in their regular jobs. So to all of our firefighters, police, ambulance crews and their families, thanks for all you do. We may not always say it, but we are thankful to have you.