“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” ― Albert Einstein 

 

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” ― Martin Luther King, Jr. 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut, Edward Perry)

 

President-elect Cary welcomed and thanked everyone for their making the extra effort to attend this morning’s meeting despite the bitterly cold temperatures. 

 

Chief Fruitcake Robb kindly requests that everyone get their money in, including those who are donating instead of selling.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Mary introduced Royal P. Mortenson, Director of the Illinois Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois. Prior to becoming director of IFSI, Royal served over 29 years with the United States Marine Corp in which he attained the rank of Colonel. His military career included various levels of leadership raising from infantry platoon commander to working with the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Defense, White House, the Department of State, and Congress. In his final year of military service, he was the Director of the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va.

 

In September 2012, Royal became director of Illinois Fire Institute and his presentation this morning focused on the services that IFSI provides. IFSI began in 1925 and is the oldest continuous fire training institution in the United States. Its mission is “Helping Firefighters do their work through training, education, information and research”. The IFSI campus is a 28-acrea training ground with classroom space, library, live fire and technical rescue props and training equipment. The training courses are available on campus, at regional training centers located throughout the state, can be delivered to the local fire departments and internationally.

 

The IFSI has a full-time staff of 20 and a part-time staff of over 500 hands on top professionals from fire departments around the state. Royal gave examples on several courses taught which included dealing with fires in homes, commercial buildings and high-rise apartments. He also discussed the handling of emergency situations of first responders, rail road accidents, wild land fires, grain elevators, propane tanks and the extracting of people from collapsed buildings and autos.   

 

Since 1980, IFSI has served as the statutory fire training institution for the State of Illinois. Funding for IFSI comes from the State of Illinois Fire Marshall funds and grants. This past year the IFSI has delivered training to over 60,000 students, offered over 1,300 courses, and trained nearly 1,200 Illinois Fire Departments. Over 80% of all IFSI courses are taught off site. Education and information is learned in classrooms, on site and is also available on line.

 

The IFSI also houses state of the art facilities for life safety studies. With adjacent facilities to the live fire training, the researchers have immediate access to the firefighters, equipment and testing materials for laboratory analysis. On-site fire and heat chambers are also used for studies on the heat stress to the fire fighter. IFSI research has partnered up with the Underwriters Institute (UL), the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).     

 

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  Jan 4th Jan 11th Jan 18th Jan 25th
Introductions Charlie Smith Mary Kay Smith Charlie Smith Diana Dummitt
Invocation Jeff Van Buren Cary Woolard Adam Wright Oktay Baran
Greeters Charlie Smith Mary Kay Smith Charlie Smith Diana Dummitt
BJ Lytle Ben Mast John McDaniel Phyllis Mischo
Song Leader Angie Schoonover Jen Shelby Lou Simpson Jeff Van Buren
Notetaker Penwell Hodson Conforti Perry

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

January 4th – Steve Adams, Prairielands Council, Boy Scouts of America (Mary)

January 11th – Micah Kenfield, Sustainability Programs Coordinator, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Phyllis)

January 18th – Club Assembly

January 25th – TBD (Tod)

February 1st – Ed Perry will discuss his efforts in Vieques, Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria

February 8th – Captain Anthony Corapi, Commanding Officer of US Navy ROTC at UIUC (Bob)

February 15th – Dr. Kim Kidwell,  Robert A. Easter Chair as well as Dean of the College of ACES, UIUC

February 22nd – Dennis Hesch, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Carle Foundation, will discuss  Carle’s expansion/development at the Curtis/I-57 interchange (Phyllis)

March 1st – Micah Putnam, Superintendent of Grounds at Allerton Park (Bob)

March 8th – TBD (Charlie)

March 15th – Kevin Erickson, Associate Professor of Architecture at UIUC (Bob)

March 22nd – TBD (Mary)

March 29th – TBD 

April 5th – TBD (Phyllis)

April 12th – TBD (Tod)

April 19th – TBD (Tom)

April 26th – TBD (Bob)

May 3rd – TBD (Charlie)

May 10th – TBD (Mary)

May 17th – TBD (Phyllis)

May 24th – TBD (Tod)

May 31st – TBD

June 7th – TBD (Tom)

June 14th – TBD (Bob)

June 21st – TBD (Charlie)