Hello Brothers and Sisters,
It is that time of year when Professional Firefighters of Indiana will be hosting the Fishing With a Firefighter day at the Indiana State Fair.
This year the event will be on Tuesday, August 9th B Shift and, as in years past we will have the first half of the day, from 0830-1230. As you can imagine, this event’s success is dependent on our volunteers and I would like to ask that you consider donating a morning to help teach a child some basic fishing skills, and often help them catch their first fish!
We had to change the day to a weekday because of the IAFF Convention but should be back to the weekend next year. This means that we don’t need quite as many people because the crowds are not as many during the week.
There are several jobs involved with the event, none require exceptional fishing skills and several do not require any handling of bait or fish at all. There are openings for:
• Fishing assistants: you will help children with the actual fishing in the DNR ponds at the State Fair. The lake is easy fishing, cane poles are used and the hooks are barbless, to prevent harming fish that are repeatedly caught and fishing assistants.
• Registration: You will register the children for their respective time slots. Due to the amount of children they actually fish in “flights”.
• Speakers: There are a few slots to conduct a portion of the actual education segment for the children and their families.
• Equipment: You will assist with the inevitable equipment repairs that come with children fishing. Again, they will be using cane poles so the primary responsibility here is tying hooks on lines that have broken.
• Education: You will help the children after they finish with some conservation inspired crafts, in the past this has been coloring.
This has become an annual tradition and has always proven to be a lot of fun for the children, their families as well as the volunteers. The DNR provides volunteers with a ticket for entry into the fair and the PFFUI and Local 416 will provide burgers, hot dogs and drinks for the volunteers as well.
Please if willing to volunteer to help email me so I can get a complete list to our DNR staff.
My email is alwood317@gmail.com and my phone number is 317-339-9245 or you can contact the hall.
Thanks,
Al Wood, Professional Fire Fighters Union of Indiana
4th District Trustee
Ladder 36, A Shift
317-339-9245
