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Reprinted from the July 2014 Volunteer Firefighter Magazine-
By
Steve Grogan, Lynbrook Fire Department
From the numerous programs sponsored by
fire departments throughout the state, RecruitNY 2014 was a
success. I would like to share another success that began with
our own Recruit 1970s program when the Lynbrook Fire Department
on Long Island formed its Lynbrook Junior Fire Department.
In the late ’70s, our department
identified a sharp decline in recruitment. We knew the economy
was not thriving and most husbands and wives were now both
working which left little time for volunteering. Back then
firefighter Len Llewelyn and I sat down and discussed the issue.
Our answer was to start a junior firefighter program. We knew
most kids want to be firefighters and if we got them interested
at an early age, hopefully when they turned 18 they’d join the
department. Our program would not be like others that existed at
that time on Long Island which were sponsored by Explorer or Boy
Scout troops. Our program would be officially a part of and
sponsored by the department.
They would be instructed and led by
firefighter advisors.Over a few months we worked out the plans
for the organization and made presentations to each of the fire
companies seeking their support. With only some minor issues
which were worked out, the companies, the fire council and the
chief ’s office approved the program.
In July 1979, the Lynbrook Junior Fire
Department began and the first group of 17 juniors, age 13 to 17
and seven of whom were children of firefighters, were sworn into
office by then-Chief Robert Forte. Also present were assistant
chiefs William Quinn and Ron Festa, and the first junior
advisors, Llewelyn, myself, and Don Waring who also offered to
help.
As the junior program began getting
noticed, the advisors were soon making presentations to all our
neighboring departments who eventually formed their own junior
programs based on our efforts and ideas.And now it’s 35 years
later and we are celebrating this anniversary with a dinner.A
lot has happened over these years and many young men and women
have gone through the program and helped fill the department
ranks. The original advisors have been replaced over the years
by other younger firefighters and former juniors who became
advisors. Now there is an advisor from each of the four engine
companies, the ladder company and the emergency medical company.
Eighteen years ago, one of those first juniors was elected chief
of the department and then went on to lead the Nassau County
Fire Commission. And, not many years ago, the chief and his
three assistant chiefs in office that year were all former
juniors.
Lynbrook’s immediate past chief and a
present assistant chief were also part of that first group. The
Lynbrook Junior Fire Department has been our answer to a
recruitment problem that we identified in the 1970s. It is still
working today to help us recruit members. There are presently 35
youngsters in the program. And the advisors and the juniors must
be doing something right because for the past four out of five
years the Lynbrook Juniors have taken first place in total
points as Nassau County’s Best Appearing Junior Fire Department.
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