Open Letter From Jersey Fools President
| By: Bill Hobson teacher_ocfa@juno.com President Jersey FOOLS |
10 Years Later…. Is your Chapter FOOLing the International?
At the completion of the initial decade for F.O.O.L.S. International, the movement which has become the F.O.O.L.S. has morphed from a collection of thoughts from five individuals, into a world wide organization which now encompasses more than 200 Chapters. Few, if any of the Founding Members, foresaw the organization we are privileged to be part of. From its humble beginnings – to now, the creation of the F.O.O.L.S. has not only expanded the “Voice of the Brotherhood” but has perhaps, more importantly, strengthened the BOND by which true F.O.O.L.S. and their Chapters, exhibit today. Thus, 10 years later, it is only fair to ask if your Chapter still has True F.O.O.L.S. or has your Chapter morphed into the an organization which is FOOLing the International? In a span of a single decade, the entire F.O.O.L.S. nation has witnessed incredible growth in new Chapters and an outright explosion in its total membership. What was originally intended for single Fire Departments to gather like minded members, the F.O.O.L.S. movement has united States, galvanized the cry for better training and has harnessed the passion, dedication and desire so many of us true F.O.O.L.S. believe. While the growth of the Chapters has been a boom to the overall F.O.O.L.S. movement, the explosion of the entire International membership has come with a price. That price was the unintended inability for the Founding Members to firmly cement the Chapter charter process and to formulate a universal status for admitting Chapter members. In the beginning, it seemed as if all of the “good guys” either formed Chapters or became members of a local Chapter. In the beginning, it seemed all of the Chapters looked to the Founding Members as the Executive Board for the Brotherhood. In the beginning, it seemed ALL of the Chapters understood THEY served the International. In the beginning, it seemed the F.O.O.L.S. could have influence in where we were trained, how we were trained and why we should continue to train. In the beginning, the growth of the F.O.O.L.S. seemed only matched by the enthusiasm for the F.O.O.L.S. In the beginning, it was RARE to find a Chapter who did not believe in an “all for one and the one is the International”. Suddenly, before the F.O.O.L.S. were five years old, an International Convention was born. D.T.R.T. became part of the F.O.O.L.S. lexicon and Psalm trees and RV’s everywhere were under siege. Suddenly, before the end of the first F.O.O.L.S. decade, something changed. Perhaps the now noticeable change gained its roots during a very trying two year period where the character, integrity and allegiance of some of the earliest and most loyal F.O.O.L.S. members was called into question. Few Chapters, if any, want to re-visit that section of the International Guestbook. It seemed, for a time, individual Chapters (more importantly the International) witnessed the betrayal of supposed “loyal members” and watched as dedicated, passionate, F.O.O.L.S. members got crushed by the very entities which the spirit of the F.O.O.L.S. was designed to fight. While many original F.O.O.L.S. are relieved that episode is ancient history, there is still the issue of individual Chapters who fail to realize the International is only as strong as the Chapters they charter. During the 2007 International Convention in New Jersey, the F.O.O.L.S. executive Board laid out an agenda for the next decade of the F.O.O.L.S. Incorporated into that agenda was the need to address what had become of the Chapters who believe they no longer need the International and have become an “Independent” so to speak, who continues to carry the F.O.O.L.S. moniker. As the International Executive Board explained “It is time to take some action”. That action is figuring out where your membership is. Has your Chapter remained true to its faith and completely followed the “mission” of the F.O.O.L.S.? Or has your Chapter allowed its membership to steer a course where the International Executive Board needs to remind you of how you got to be a Chapter in the first place. The “Call to action” here is to remind those, who need reminding, that there seems to be (in the last part of the F.O.O.L.S. decade) two “types” of F.O.O.L.S. Chapters. Those who never forgot where they came from and those who cannot seem to find their INTERNATIONAL membership card. Thus, it continues to be fair to ask: “Are you a F.O.O.L.S. Chapter or is your membership FOOLing the International”? Perhaps we only need to remind ourselves that the “Brotherhood” has always been there. If you do not believe that, then you do not understand the history and tradition of the Fire Service. I doubt, there are many F.O.O.L.S. who do not believe those who served many generations before us felt the same way we do, they simply did not have the F.O.O.L.S. as a tool to unite them. If there is any current F.O.O.L.S. member who still does not get that, they only need to look at the many Chapter coins which feature the phrase “I have but one ambition…..” Over the last 24 months, it seems fair to put forth the notion that F.O.O.L.S. International, as we know it, has reached a cross roads. In the last two years, a record number of Chapters have become inactive; the number of new Chapters has dramatically decreased, yet, the applications for membership into the International has continued to climb. At the 2007 International Convention, the International Executive Board recognized this cross roads and proclaimed to the record number of attendees that steps were going to be taken to address those Chapters and those members, who have lost touch with D.T.R.T., KTF, EGH, RFB, PTB, FTM. It is here, in this article, another “call to action” is WHY WAIT for the International to do – when all we really need to do, is look inside ourselves. You do not have to be from the largest Chapter to understand that “quality, not quantity” will immediately fuel the plans for the next decade, which the International has suggested. We must never forget the entire F.O.O.L.S. universe was created by five individuals. They were, the “meeting point” so many of us had been waiting for. This article is not to suggest the majority of the Chapters have “lost their way” and that every Chapter must have some “non-desirables”. Quite to contrary, this article is suggesting that the momentum and agenda, we witnessed birth to at the 2007 Convention can only BEGIN and SUCCEED, when we COLLECTIVELY clean our own houses and return to the original concept of “All for one and that one is the International”. Every Chapter President and Chapter Executive Board is faced with this very situation. How they answer the “call to action” will say much about the “status” of their Chapter. If five people can create what we have today, then five people, in every Chapter can adjust, correct and control what is created from here. How is it, we can create “F.O.O.L.S. International” Chapters, yet, the International continues to struggle? How is it every Chapter is NOT working on ways to have representation at the International Convention? Even if it is only a single Chapter member. How is it all the momentum from the 2007 Convention died a slow death? How is it we did not “collectively” censor individual Chapter members who clearly violated the very International “Oath” they proudly accepted, when they received their INTERNATIONAL membership card? There is NO SINGLE, PERFECT Chapter, in the known F.O.O.L.S. organization. All of us (including the International) has shown our warts from time to time. It is with great hope that those who have read this article understand the intent of this article is to inspire individual Chapters to accept the Internationals “call to action”. True F.O.O.L.S. should never complain about seeing the “same group of members” at either your Chapter gathering, Chapter events or at International events. When you are with the “same group”, aren’t you really with the Chapter members who never left the F.O.O.L.S. in the first place? So decide, 10 years later, are you a F.O.O.L.S. Chapter? Or, is your membership FOOLing the International by forgetting where we all came from? No single person should be greater than the organization they represent. Here’s to the notion that no single F.O.O.L.S. Chapter should be greater than the INTERNATIONAL they represent. D.T.R.T. The next decade of the F.O.O.L.S. may very well determine the legacy of the F.O.O.L.S. Here’s hoping your INTERNATIONAL chapter pitches in and ensures there will be a next generation of the F.O.O.L.S. KTF.
The above article is submitted by Bill Hopson to all F.O.O.L.S. members nationwide, President of the Jersey F.O.O.L.S. His International membership number is 1099.
