On January 1, 2016, Billy assumed the role of treasurer of the Islip Fire Department Rescue Squad. He hopes that his accounting degree that he got years ago will come in handy here.
Since he is Irish by marriage, he almost always goes to the East Islip St. Patrick's Day parade with the fire department band. This year it was on March 6th and was sunny outside as opposed to snowy like in 2015. And as with every East Islip parade, the Department goes back to Headquarters for some corned beef and cabbage.
On April 2, the Squad hosted a wet-down of its new ambulance (3-4-3) and also commemorated the Squad's 75th anniversary. Billy helped with setting up the meeting room, as well as the bay where the quests would speak, and the Squad would sell commemorative/challenger coins. Ellen and Eileen attended as guests and had a good time, despite the chilly and rainy weather. Unfortunately, neither Ellen nor Eileen could join Billy on April 16 when he went to the 135th annual Installation Dinner, held this year at the Huntington Hilton on Route 110. Billy did manage to have a good time anyway, and took home some keepsakes, like some mason jar coffee cups and a set of photo booth snapshots.
On May 15th, Billy attended a lunch in honor of a 50-year member, who was made an Honorary Chief by the Board of Fire Commissioners. The new Honorary Chief's company invited the entire Department to the event, but sadly fewer than 30 members of the other companies showed up. At the May department meeting, the Chief of the Department told all of the members that unless you are working or out of town, you have no excuse not to be at a function honoring 50 year members. After that meeting, the captain of the Rescue Squad called a special squad meeting to discuss some business. It turns out that the Squad could not pay bills because there was never a quorum at several of the prior meetings. This time we did have a quorum, and agreed to pay the bills. As treasurer, Billy agreed to write checks to three of the vendors and on the morning of Friday May 20 (the day he went to the Merchant Marine Academy) he personally delivered them to two of the vendors (and mailed the third).
Over the Memorial Day weekend Billy helped his company clean up the company's two engines, as well as the heavy rescue truck on Sunday. The next day was the actual Memorial Day, and the skies opened up. The Town cancelled the parade, but the Islip Fire Department decided to have its annual flag ceremony in the parking lot, and then march to the Town of Islip Veterans' Memorial and back, after a brief prayer service at the site. Billy and all of the other members felt proud to be marching and to show love of country. He also took time to remember the 3 Marines that he and Ellen knew personally who were killed in Vietnam, as well as two soldiers whom Billy did not know personally, but knew family members.
Earlier on the morning of June 12th, the Islip Fire Department was supposed to go to the Suffolk County Fire Academy at Yaphank for hands on training. But there was such a poor turnout to go that the Chief cancelled it. However, on the following evening Billy’s company had a short drill at Islip High School (with a hydrant near the main building). He got there late but did help to pack hose. Then they went back to the firehouse for a very long meeting.
Billy had July 15th off and found some time at the firehouse in the afternoon to reconcile the Rescue Squad’s checking account (they’re broke). Around 5 PM he returned down to the firehouse to help set up for the Squad’s Zumba fundraiser. 2 hours later all of 7 customers arrived, along with the trainer. Sadly, the Squad lost its shirt on this event. The bright side was that Billy got to talk to one of the 7 ladies, who was from Belfast Northern Ireland, about both the Republic and Northern Ireland. She told him that the “troubles” are in the past and he should take time to visit the province (Billy said that maybe he will, since his cousin and his family did last year and they lived to tell about it).
On August 18th, there was a standby at both the North House and Headquarters to cover the Bay Shore Fire District, as well as Islip's since the drill/racing team went to Buffalo for the state tournament. Since Billy is not yet retired, he could not get to Headquarters until 8 PM. But he did show up. Since the 2016 Olympics were still going on in Rio de Janeiro, he and the other firefighters got to watch the track & field events. While at Headquarters he also found some time to check the rescue Squad's finances.
In September there were a few events to tell about. On September 10th he went with several other Engine 2 members and their guests to Port Jefferson to go fishing on the Sound. They were going for blue fish, porgies, and striped bass. The boat was the Osprey V, and as a coincidence Billy was wearing his Missoula Osprey baseball cap. The boat headed north and east from Port Jefferson to the middle of the Sound. Bill figured that since the Long Island Sound is not the Atlantic, it would not be as rough. True enough. But on the way out and once they anchored by the Connecticut shore, the boat began to pitch. Billy got managed to get stuck with a hook when the boat pitched. For the first hour Billy was able to fish and caught two porgies that he could keep, and two small striped bass that he had to throw back. Then what he hoped would not happen did – sea sickness did occur. He never knew the Sound could be rough enough to pitch a fishing boat. He never remembered it being that rough when his went out onto it with his uncle and cousins back in the day. So naturally he was not up to fishing any longer, and heaved a few times. Luckily his stomach was not that full but it did clear out. When they got back to the dock he felt better. Since everyone smelled of fish, and had to get up kind of early on Sunday morning for the 9-11 Memorial Service, most decided to head home. Billy donated his two porgies to the Company, and they will be part of the company meeting dinner on the 12th.
Then the next day was the 15th anniversary of the other Day of Infamy: 9-11. There was a ceremony at 9 AM at the Islip Town Hall, and the Department would be attending. So they members met up at headquarters at 8 AM and either walked or rode apparatus to Town Hall to join the other departments from Islip Town for service. The departments marched to the Veterans Memorial Park and listened to prayers, reading of the 90 names of Islip Town residents lost 15 years ago, taps and some hymns. Then the departments marched back to the staging site before dispersing.
Billy did not do much on Labor Day except go on an ambulance call and he actually drove the rig from the North House to the scene on Whitman Avenue. The chief (who gave him the OK to drive the ambulance over) actually drove it over to the hospital.
Billy got up early Sunday morning to participate in the 9-11 Memorials Ceremonies with the Islip Fire Department at Town Hall. Around 8:30 they headed to Town Hall, either walking or riding in apparatus. Once he got to the monuments at Veterans Park at Town Hall Billy took some photos with his cell phone of the memorials to Islip Town residents (90 of them) who were killed on 9-11-2001 and to the firefighters lost that day. Then he walked over to the circle around Town Hall and joined the other Islip firefighters. There were moments of silence at 8:46 and 9:03 (the minutes that the Twin Towers were struck) and then the Department marched around the Hall to the Veterans Park to hear speeches, taps, prayers, and the reading of the names of those residents lost. After lunch he went back to Town Hall to take more photos using his digital camera this time.
Saturday the 17th was Homecoming for Islip High School. Before the parade and game, The Islip Fire Department was going to be in the parade, so to get some fire apparatus ready a few members hosed down two vehicles, and then Billy and they rode over to the Town Hall parking lot for staging. Billy took pictures of the 4 floats (one for each school year) and the marching band. Soon the parade stepped off, and went down Main Street from Town Hall to the high school. At around 2:15 the two ambulances drove to the high school to take up positions at the Union Boulevard end of the renovated football field. Not long after the national anthem and kick off, the other team (Hauppauge High School) scored a touchdown and conversion and it was 7-0. Then there was a minor medical emergency with a fan. It turns out that her blood sugar was low and she was ready to pass out. We called her parents so that they could give us the OK to take her to Southside Hospital if necessary. Once they arrived they told us that their daughter was OK and that the Department didn’t have to transport her. The game continued and Islip only got deep into Hauppauge territory only a couple of times. And when the Buccaneers had a chance to score 3-point field goals, they opted not to. So in the end the final score was Hauppauge Eagles 14, Islip Buccaneers 0. Hopefully it is better luck next time.
During October there were a few interesting firematic events. On the 15th he was part of a 3 man ambulance crew that revived and transported a 31 year old who passed out from a heroin overdose. Then on the following Monday, at the monthly fire department meeting, Billy and several other Islip Fire Department members who are military veterans each received uniform pin (says "VETERAN" on it) and an accommodation from Suffolk County. But unfortunately, at the start of the meeting, the chief announced that the 50 year member whom the Department honored 5 months earlier had passed away. 2 days later the family and the Department had a wake and firematic service at the local funeral home. Since Billy could not leave work early, he got to the funeral home at 8 PM, after the service was over! But he did volunteer to serve a stint as part of the honor guard, where two firefighters stand at the front of the casket at attention. Billy says that he has done this before for other deceased members, and always feels proud to participate in this type of ceremony. Then, on his birthday (October 26th) he had hoped to go to a drill at Kennedy Airport that was sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). But the burn pit at the airport was not available, so the drill was cancelled. Maybe they will go in November. But in November it was cancelled again, so it's "wait until next year" for this drill.
Since Billy could not make the November 6th drill at Yaphank because he was at St. John’s University, he went on the 20th with the Department to participate in the taxpayer drill (stores and apartments). Because he is an exterior firefighter (since 2014), he helped hook up and later breakdown the hydrant, set up a ladder, and feed attack lines. There was no going inside on the attack lines anymore. When it was all over everyone all packed the hoses back into the hose beds. Everyone had lunch at the firehouse when they got back.
Since the Advent began on over the Thanksgiving weekend, it means the start of the Christmas season. And that means time to get out the Christmas decorations. Every year Billy's company is assigned the North House on Commack Road, and each year he helps out with the decorating. At the end of Saturday evening, if you drove past the North House, you will see some brightly lit shrubs, and lights along the top of the bay doors. And should you be (un)lucky to have a call and the North House engine (3-4-7) arrives, it will be brightly lit in Christmas lights.
And since fire engines need hoses to put water onto fires, every year it is wise to test all of the hoses for leaks or other problems. They decided to do the testing on the 27th, at the Denver Avenue track. Both engines were driven there, and the hoses were stretched all the way, and then several of gallons of water at 130 psi were sent through them. When Billy and the other members checked the hoses, they luckily found no leaks or tears in any of the hoses. Then on Monday evening at fires school, the chief showed the members a video of a fire at an apartment complex in Flint MI - the home city of Grand Funk Railroad.
During the morning of December 3rd Billy helped make the donuts for the Islip Fire Department Christmas party, and later in the afternoon he marched in the annual Town Holiday parade. Starting last year the parade is done after dark so the lights on floats, vehicles, and marchers can be seen. Makes for a pretty interesting sight. On the next day the Department was having its annual tailgate party so Billy I stopped at the firehouse to watch some games (Detroit/New Orleans, Cincinnati/Philadelphia, Green Bay/Houston) and enjoyed some “Scrooge’s Revenge” and then some chips, Buffalo wings, and mozzarella sticks before heading home.
On December 17th evening Billy went to the Engine 2 Christmas Party at the Irish Coffee Pub. Eileen and Eileen could have joined him, but Ellen is worried about Eileen’s going around to others asking their names all the time. The meal – buffet style – was good. The Company also honored 2 members (both ex-chiefs) for 60 years of service each. Just before 10 PM Billy decided to leave since Ellen and Eileen were home. Then on Sunday, after lunch, he went to the firehouse to use the computer to add more information onto his new website commemorating the visit to Maryland over the prior weekend, and then join other members of the Department on a Santa run around the District. One of the members dresses up as Santa Claus and a few pre-teens, usually members’ kids, dress as Frosty or elves and we ride on apparatus around the Islip Fire District blaring the horns and sirens, and tossing candy canes out onto the lawns. Billy was on the ladder truck, since being a senior citizen, he could not climb onto the hose bed on the engine with turnout gear on. They ended at Chicago Park where people came to us for candy canes and photo opportunities.