February 8, 2008 Meeting

Pledge, Song & Invocation

After the opening Pledge of Allegiance, led by our hostess, President Helene Michel, Marie Stultz cajoled us through a verse of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" in recognition of the upcoming holiday. Our esteemed lay leader Len Wilson, recently returned from sunny Florida, proved that Cal Mutti's eloquence with words of wisdom has been transferred to him as he led us in the invocation.

Guests & Visitors

Special guests today included Geoff Plume (prospective new member?); Andover Fire Chief Mike Mansfield, today's guest speaker; as well as the usual contingent of Buck and Spencer small fry.

Club Business

President Helene read a letter from our latest Honorary Member, the aforementioned Cal Mutti, thanking us for the honor and praising the club's enthusiasm and esprit d'corps, which he will find difficult to replace.

Local Rotarians, led by the Lawrence club, are looking for softball players with might to increase the team's chances in the upcoming season of the softball league. See our Prez if you want to try out!

Congratulations to Alan Michel who has accepted the position of Public Relations chair for the district. He will be attending the upcoming District Meeting and will surely give them some great ideas.

Citizen Who Care - Marie Stultz reported that the deadline is fast approaching to submit your favorite candidate to win a place in this year's roster of honorees. Must have all names submitted by March 5!

Fight Against Polio - the collection bag will be available at the next meeting to collect all your loose change to support this great effort, so don't empty your pockets this week - bring it all to the meeting instead!

Scholarship Committee - another deadline approaching - be sure to get the names of those deserving students turned in the Paul Mercandetti ASAP.

Beverly School of Kenya - Bill Buck announced that over 3,000 books have been donated or purchased. He will need help next Friday to deliver the boxes to the warehouse in Lowell. Calling all strong bodies!

Ski Trip - Alan is trying to arrange a day of skiing on either the last Sunday in February or the first Sunday in March. Email Alan at amichel@homeinc.com if you want to join in the fun. Cost will be approximately $42 for a lift ticket. Family members are welcome and encouraged.

Raffle

There were 44 cards available for selection, with the pot at $118, but Paul Mercandetti and Mark Spencer picked such a motley pair that they had to fight it out for the $10. So, no joker appeared the pot rides to a bigger prize.

Fines & Happy Bucks

Due to this reporter doing double duty as the Sergeant-at-Arms, and due to the less-than-stellar memory of same, this section is rather abbreviated. Those who are slow learners and appeared once again without their Rotary pins, had to ante up a buck. There was a small contingent of skiers who dropped one in - guess everyone else had their nose to the grindstone this week.

Mark Spencer threw in a couple for Bob Troiano's assistance in assembling a cage for his resident iguana (can just imagine that project taking place). Peter Cotch reminded everyone of their obligation to bring a prospective new member to the meeting on February 29. Paul Mercandetti reported on the improving health of Dennis Crossen (great news) and Marie celebrated that with a happy buck. She also had one for her upcoming trip to San Antonio. Kathleen Buck reported happily that she was able to execute a mogul somersault on last week's ski outing.

If any of you who were celebrating other occasions feel left out, apologies are hereby issued.

Today's Speaker

The recently-appointed Andover Fire Chief, Michael Mansfield, was today's impressive speaker. Mike began by giving us a bit of his background, which mostly happened in Nashua, NH. He became a firefighter in 1980 and was elevated to Assistant Chief in 2004. When the job in Andover became available, Mike had the opportunity to climb higher in the ranks, adding to his 27 years in the fire prevention business.

Mike has an MBA from Franklin Pierce College. He has taught the Urban Search & Rescue Team in Beverly and went to New York to assist at the 9/ll disaster. When not working Mike turns to the of the practice the bagpipes, a unique and different challenge than those he faces daily. He didn't mention the skirt, or the requisite undergarment (or lack thereof)!

Some of the interesting facts about the Andover Fire Department. There 70 employees on staff in three stations, with 16-17 people covering each of four shifts, 24/7. There are three engines and a ladder company. They cover emergency runs and calls for service. The ambulance EMS vehicles have become increasingly busy as the population ages. An additional 5,000 elderly are expected within the next five years. As with other areas in town, the fire deparment is facing a budget crisis which will require innovative changes to implement better methods, including collective bargaining.

Currently there are 10 firefighters going into the schools to teach fire and life safety. Construction requires inspections and enforcement of the fire prevention codes, permitting, safety in homes, schools and businesses through the installation and inspection of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Other services include technical rescue calls in confined spaces and roof rescues when individuals get injured while working on roofs. Andover's aim is to become the regional technical rescue hub for Essex County, with the goal of saving money by keeping all resources in one location. They are applying for the very competitive grant funding from the federal government to be able to support health fairs, blood pressure clinics and glucose monitoring programs.

Issues the department faces are lack of staffing (if two ambulances are out, there are only 12 firefighters left in the station), and two people are required on the aerial ladders. Other needs are for another ambulance for advanced life support care, expansion and relocation of the Ballardvale station in order to improve response time.

It was very apparent that our new Fire Chief has many exciting and interesting challenges in the years to come. We wish him well in his endeavors.