Signal73 said:
Willy D asked me to post these photos
Story to follow....
Thank's very much Brad. I sure appreciate that. "Brad Young, aka signal 73, has NEVER let me down when I ask him to post any pictures for me". He is also a great contributor to this site, particularly when it comes to giving us rundowns on the FDNY jobs.
Now let me discuss the two photos above in our News of Members series.
In the TOP Photo;
This week I was invited by these two guys to join them in Providence. The guy on the left is Joe Sullivan, aka "Maxim" as he is known on this site. Joe is a retired firefighter from Louden County, Virginia after serving the department for 23 years.
On his left is Chris Oliphant, currently a firefighter in Washington, D.C. with 20 years on the job.
Other than the FDNY, Providence was a "favorite" buff city of mine and Joe "Maxim" grew up in Providence. Living there until he got on the job in Louden County. Joe said to me, "we probably saw each other in the streets back then at the jobs". No doubt, he was right. I started chasing fires in Providence back in 1975.
When I met these guys, "it was like we had known each other for years'. It was a GREAT Day. Thanks guys for inviting me.
Both Joe and Chris are heavily involved in the "International Fire Buffs Association" and asked me to pass the word onto the guys of this site. The IFBA members meet up once a year at a selected city. I think they told me their next visit is to Nashville, Tenn in April. One of the favorite things about these visits is that guys all with the same interest get together not only to visit a city fire dept but to talk about the topic that they all have a special interest in - The Fire Service.
To join the IFBA organization the yearly fee is only $10.00/year, and ALL are welcomed. Joe is the Vice President of IFBA Region 3. If interested, contact Joe, aka "Maxim", his email address is:
ifbaregion3vp@gmail.com
The Photo below is of a few of our well known members of this site.
Recently members John Bendick and Elwood Ervin met up. John was traveling around throughout the country and stopped off in Tenn to see Elwood.
On the left is this sites administrator, Retired FDNY Captain John Bendick, aka "jbendick", and on the right is our good friend Elwood Erwin, aka "CFDMarshall". Frequently referred to on here as "The Reverend", although he is NOT associated with any Ministry Service. That came about a few years ago while he was riding with myself and member Frank Donahue, "fdce54". The Rev, just began preaching to us the holy word, with his southern Tenn accent. It was Great, so that's how he got that title as "The Reverend".
So what might they be talking about ? Well, based on what I know of the two of them, most likely having what is sometimes referred to as; "A Fire Dept Rap-A-Thon", which usually happens when guys like this or many others of similar interest meet up.
I am VERY HAPPY to call ALL these guys "my good friends". That includes my good friend Brad Young who has NEVER LET ME DOWN when posting any pictures on here for me.