Signing Off For Now - Rick Parrett

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Last year at this time, I sat in the president’s chair for the first time and remember being intimidated by the volume of financial and administrative activity that it takes to run a volunteer fire company. As my term in office comes to an end and I hand the gavel to Monte Wisbrock, I still marvel at how much a dedicated group of volunteers deeply committed to their community can do. I’m also happy to report that our members are meeting the challenges the Company faces head on and have it are positioned to continue providing exemplary service to you as we start our 7th decade. Over the past year and as fire chief for six of the ten years before that, I’ve had the pleasure of working with past presidents, boards of directors, chiefs, officers, committee chairs and members to move the BBVFC forward. I would be remiss if I did not point to them as the foundation of this organization and thank them for their unselfish service. I also want to thank you, the community that supports us, for everything you do, be it a check or a simple note recognizing what we do. I hope that we are communicating with you effectively through this column and other means and that you have a good sense of what we do and what we need. When I wrote last year, I said that challenge in a number of areas would be the theme of the next few years for the BBVFC. That has certainly been the case and its worth reviewing the last twelve months. Finances remain our biggest struggle in that funds from the county and the state are inadequate to cover the cost of day-to-day operations before consideration of capital needs. Thanks to your generosity in our annual fund drive and our capital campaign, to Representative Hocker and the Quiet Resorts Charitable Foundation for designating us as a beneficiary of their major events and to the initiative of several of our members in organizing and executing various fundraisers, we met our objectives for the year and made a significant dent in our debt. This accomplishment was also supported by a Company-wide effort to reduce spending, which is best reflected in a leaner budget going into FY08-09. This success notwithstanding, we still have formidable needs in a difficult economic climate and will be pushing hard in these areas going forward. Apparatus replacement remains our most daunting hurdle as we must save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to keep our equipment less than 25 years old. Monte will be leading an update of our long term replacement plan to see what we can do to either modify it or identify new resources. Lastly, as you have read a lot about this year, we will commence providing EMS services in our fire district on January 1, 2009. This accomplishment was made possible by an extraordinary partnership between the towns of Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island, South Bethany and the Sea Colony Recreational Association and the BBVFC. The agreement that group mutually reached reflects the very best of what the word community means-concerned citizens working together for the common good. We hope that other property owners will quickly offer their financial support. The new ambulances arrived last week and, if you haven’t seen them, please stop by and we’ll be happy to provide a tour. Despite the accomplishments of the past year, there are long term challenges ahead. Fortunately, the directors, officers and members of the BBVFC are committed to meeting them. Our members, many of whom are life-long area residents, are committed to this community and to serving you and we will do everything in our power to continue providing the quality emergency services that you have enjoyed since 1948. Rick Parrett is past president of the BBVFC, where he is a life member having joined in 1987. He has held virtually every line position in the Company, including fire chief for 6 of the past 11 years. He is the facilities supervisor at Sea Colony and lives in Bethany Beach with his wife, Betsey, and their son. Rick can be reached at [email protected].