Cow Town FOOLS

One of the newest chapters of the Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society will be holding its first-ever meeting this month. The Cowtown FOOLS of Fort Worth, Texas, is hosting “Brotherhood Bash ‘10” on Jan. 28 with events that include a guest lecture from Fire Engineering magazine editor-in-chief Bobby Halton....

His beard and moustache aren't as full, his hair is not white, and his red work vehicle is not a sleigh, but Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society member Rusty Ricker has been playing Santa Claus to needy children for more than 10 years....

Many things need to be considered when you decide to start a Fools chapter. There will be many questions that need to be answered. The two things that are often forgotten is having and maintaining a budget and taking written minutes at meetings. Both are very important to having a successful and effective local chapter. The benefit of doing both is it protects the chapter and its members.

How to Set up and Run a Chapter Meeting

One of the things that must be done with every chapter is to have chapter meetings throughout the year. Some may look at this as a challenge but in true essence, it’s basic and can lead to greater things. One thing that must be established right off the bat is that there is a difference between a chapter meeting and an event (social, charitable or training). Now can you do both, yes. But sometimes business has to be done to get info out to the membership but also to make sure questions get answered and when you combine multiple things, certain issues get missed. Later we can talk about the social, charitable or training events but for now we’ll go over a “business meeting.”

"Greetings from the Hero To Hero Troop Morale Campaign!"

Thousands of troops have read those words over the six years of this program. This is the easiest program you can support! All you need to do is Pledge a department shirt for your own hometown troop -- FOOLS shirts work well, too....

New England-Area FOOLS Hold First Combined Chapter Summit

Four of five New England-area Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society chapters recently held their first joint meeting Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

The meeting was attended by the New England, Central Mass, Southern New England and Charter Oaks FOOLS chapters. The fifth area chapter, Greater Boston, was not able to attend.

Attendees discussed a number of issues including recruitment of new members, sponsorship to attract the right caliber of members, active E-boards, quality vs. rapid chapter growth, frequency and location of meetings, training, insurance, public image and social events.....

Jan. 15 - Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society members are among the search and rescue personnel the U.S. dispatched to help in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12...

Steps for Establishing and Maintaining Your FOOLS Chapter Web Site

Step 1 – Domain Name

As the webmaster and head of internet operations for FOOLS International, I am going to explain in a multi-part series how to establish and maintain a website for your local FOOLS chapter. There are several items that you will want to have decided on before you even begin to think about building a web site.

Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to the new year and yet another fresh start for us all. At last year's Convention, held in York Beach, Maine, it was made clear that the membership wants to have more communications from the Executive Board. We are in the process of establishing a schedule and developing a format that local Chapter Presidents, or their designated representative, can use for an on-line meeting.

For years, the Terry Farrell Firefighters Scholarship Fund (TFFSF) has been providing support and assistance to firefighters and fire stations throughout the country, and now they are in immediate need of reciprocal support and are seeking the help of the Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society membership and others...

Lieutenant junior grade (Lt.jg.) Dean R. Halton, U.S. Navy

Lieutenant junior grade (Lt.jg.) Dean R. Halton, U.S. Navy, the son of FOOLS member and Fire Engineering editor-in-chief Chief Bobby Halton, is serving his country as a pilot with the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26 (HSC-26) “Chargers,” an MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter squadron based in Norfolk, Va.. Lt.jg. Halton is currently deployed to the Middle East….

Brothers and Sisters,

Wow! The end of 2009 – really? It's hard to believe that we are now in a new decade.

With that said, over the past year we have been making progress on improving several areas of your FOOLS International website.

Updated website for the Farthest North FOOLS in Fairbanks, Alaska.  And a little news in general from the frozen North.

Four veteran Lakewood, Washington, police officers were shot and killed in a targeted ambush Nov. 29, and the Puget Sound FOOLS are doing their part to assist the families of the fallen officers....

Courtesy of the NorCal FOOLS Website

In our professional lives, especially for younger F/F's, I have "borrowed" something from a Brother of mine, Tim Klett of the FDNY.  It is called the 4 UPS............

We Want to Hear From You

Fools International is calling all chapters and members. We want to hear from you and find out the latest news from your chapter. This new section of the site is for you, the local chapters. We want to hear about how your local training went, new chapter officers elected, birth of a future FOOLS member and so on. .....

A canned food drive hosted by the South Florida chapter of the Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society netted more than 7,000 canned food items and almost $1,000 for the Feeding South Florida food bank on Nov. 20...

This comes as a reminder that the annual chapter dues are coming up starting January 1^st, 2010. We ask that these dues be paid by January 31^st 2010. All Chapters and members not affiliated with a chapter are required to pay annual dues.