A Touch of Gray

This article from Long Island NY talks about an often-overlooked audience in the volunteer fire service today: 40+.

I love the fact that Syosset allows each company in the department to have its own identity. I took this photo when I visited all three of their stations about a year ago with my good friend Rob Leonard.

Don’t discount or write-off the value of people coming to the fire service with some life-experience under their belt. That maturity can turn out to be a huge advantage to your fire department, especially when teamed with the free spirits of Generation Y.

As I wrote in “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” — This demo includes settled homeowners; their kids are growing to an age of independence; focused on giving back; perhaps even looking for an outlet – or just an excuse to get out of the house.

I don’t know about you, but it smells like opportunity to me.

My helmet is off to the folks in Syosset for recognizing this viable solution to our recruitment and retention challenges.

And, looking at how this article was written, I’m sure I owe a shout-out to my good friend and brother firefighter Rob Leonard who, in addition to being a volunteer firefighter with Syosset, is a public-relations guru who “gets it” about what we have to do to ensure the survival and success of the volunteer fire service.

The article also serves as an announcment of the fire department’s two open houses scheduled for Saturdays in May and June. Coincidence? I think not!

Nicely done Syosset!