I listened to Vice President Biden when he addressed the police and Tuft University’s students and faculty this past week, at the funeral service for campus police officer Collier who was assassinated by the two brothers who had set the bombs at the Boston Marathon’s finish line a few days earlier. Joe Biden’s words echoed my memories of my father’s own … Biden offered his condolences to the Collier family, and in doing so, he reminded all of the officers present that their families, too, are affected by worry each time an officer puts on his uniform and heads out the door.  That is true for the families of firefighters as well; my dad knew that, and always reminded his rookies to keep one hand ‘on the ladder for the family who waits for you at home’ when working a fire call. I knew my dad would be proud of Biden’s words.

Hopkinton, a town about twenty-five miles away from us, has a 40 acre woodland fire going at the same time. With a fire that large, it may well take more than a day to extinguish it. Rob will be on duty in nearby Lexington tomorrow and may be called to that as mutual aid. I’m told that the state had given used ‘deuce and a half’ trucks to several small towns, as those are vehicles that can drive through woodlands and they have tanks that would bring about a hundred gallons of water to the scene of fires like these. I’m also told that the state retrieved those vehicles a few years ago, leaving the towns without the extra support. Our town has a ‘combo’ truck to use for woodland fires: it is a Combination Engine/Pumper and carries water and travels with good traction. Once, a few years ago, the Combo was weighed down with water and stuck in the mud on the way into a fire scene: our Deuce and the neighboring town’s Deuce were able to work together to pull the Combo out. We’re without that support, now. No one has been able to tell me why, yet.

Of course the ‘families who wait at home’ wait with worry. Certainly my mother lived with that worry, as my dad rose through the ranks of the fire department, from private, to lieutenant, to captain and then to Deputy Chief. Most family members  of firefighters wait with prayers on our breath. Many wait without monitoring via radio transmissions.  When my dad was injured in a warehouse fire (the roof collapsed and timbers fell and pinned him) we heard via a neighbor, who had heard via a newscast on a portable transistor radio. I was about eleven then, and was a spectator at the fire, just a block away from where we lived in the City of Boston. Dad was a lieutenant then, and was taken to the hospital to be checked out. I ran home, not knowing that he was the firefighter on the stretcher, but knowing that I wasn’t supposed to be at a fire scene. Dad always told us sternly to stay away and out of the way. I learned when I ran up the street that Dad’s name was on the radio, and that he was hurt. But an hour later, he came home in a cab, to let us know that he was alright, they got him out before the smoke could do its damage. And we all hugged and kissed him. I never told anyone that I was there at the scene. But being there, I saw how quickly all of the firefighters reacted to the collapse, and how quickly they found a way to release him and the others who had been pinned by the collapse. And I may have felt the most relief of all.

When Rick decided to join the fire department in town, I was hesitant. My dad had just retired a few years before, just a year after my brother had died of smoke inhalation in a late night fire in Connecticut, where he was manning an all night open shelter for runaway teens. His death was very hard on my dad, following just a year after the Vendome fire where Dad felt the loss of nine of his brother firefighters in his beloved City of Boston. I told Rick why I was hesitant, with memories of worry as a child. I told him I’d learned to respect the training that protected my dad in the fire department, but that even with that training and equipment, lives could be lost. I didn’t know how much or how diligent the training in a small town department would be. But in time, I came to respect that, too.

Ten years later, our daughter joined Rick as a firefighter, and began the trainings that would help her to protect others and herself. She went to college then, and no longer attended trainings or fires in town. Her dad, Rick, later ‘retired’ from the firefighting role as he could no longer attend the trainings, either, and knew that without those, he would not be as capable a firefighter as he would want to be. His last fire, a structure fire near the square, trapped him for a moment in the cellar of the building, when a ‘flashback’  knocked him off his feet.

And then another ten years later, our son decided, too, to join the fire department. He began as an explorer: fourteen years old, he and others would train on supportive tasks that would help the firefighters at the scene of a woods fire. The learned to test the hoses, test the portable pumps, fill the air canisters for the breathing apparatus and provide drinking water and tools as needed by the firefighters. When he turned 18 he joined the department as a firefighter. He went to the state training academy and passed the physical and paper and pen tests; he then went through training as an EMT and then a paramedic, and is now fully employed by Lexington.

And so I’ve learned through the years and generations to trust the brotherhood of the fire departments. I’ve learned to respect the trainings that they use. I’ve become a part of the fire department’s fund raising association, so that they can continue to buy proper equipment and train in proper ways. I’ve been a daughter, a wife, and now a mother of firefighters. I accept the stress that comes with those roles. And I still pray each time a siren is heard, near or in the distance. It might be a fire truck, or a police car, or an ambulance. Whichever it is, it carries well-trained, caring individuals to the scene of someone in need of protection, of care, and of help. It carries men and women who are prepared and will get the job done. And it carries people who are loved by “those who wait and worry at home.” God be with them, and with us, all.

And, for those who want to know, “How am I doing?”  I’m keeping busy, helping Erie 4, “the oldest, privately-owned and funded volunteer fire company that is still working as part of a town fire department in the United States of America” as their clerk, and I’m helping to raise money for our public library as the Vice President of the Friends of the Georgetown Peabody Library, and I work to help promote the visibility of small businesses in town as a member of the Alliance for Georgetown. I am a member of two local quilt/needlework guilds, and I am sole proprietor of Terry’s Thoughts and Threads, in which I make and sell quilts and books. Of course, I also help Rick with fabric accessories in our Wooden Toy and Gift shop. Retired after 30 years of teaching public school classes, I am enjoying my free time, and spending every minute I can with Rick. At a recent doctor’s visit, I was pronounced ‘unlucky in health but doing quite well.’ And that’s good enough for me. I’m happy. I’m ‘fine.’ As I often say, I’m not perfect. But I’m enough. My goals in life are simpler now. I just want to continue to be enough.

Following a parade through the downtown area later this Saturday, first responders and officials will assemble on Newark Avenue to formally dedicate the building.  In this crowd there will be generations of emergency providers who have served the community.

So the Singerly Museum, as part of its mission to preserve the traditions and heritage of the emergency services organization, will open up a listening station.  When firefighters, EMS professionals, ladies auxiliary members and administrative volunteers pass by our workstation, we will ask them to comment on the day’s activities, reflect on years gone by, and share a story of two with us.

Our oral historians will be at the recording booth, listening to people.  It’s all part of the museum’s mission to chronicle Singerly’s heritage.  We are looking forward to tapping into a wealth of stories about earlier times while also documenting this important milestone.

Looking at the flames

The fire was reported about 2 p.m. Friday in the one-story single-family house. Firefighters found fire showing from the back of the house. A blaze in the bedroom was quickly put out. There were no injuries.

Damage was estimated at $50,000 and the two residents were displaced. Officials say the fire appears to be electrical.

A fire department spokesman says the house was set to be renovated Saturday by volunteers who are part of the Christmas in April project. The spokesman says the project is part of an organization that repairs the homes of senior citizens who are low income or physically challenged.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Becoming a firefighter is quite a process and always has been. The testing has taken many forms over the years. When I tested in the early 80s it was so grueling I vomited following the physical agility test and had to sit in my car for 10-15 minutes before I could drive.

The physical test wasn’t the first component I’m getting ahead of myself. The first portion of the entry process was a written exam that covered many areas of general knowledge that included basic skills such as reading comprehension, vocabulary, and math. Next came mechanical aptitude, could you figure out how stuff worked.

These were all timed tests completing on time and getting the highest number of correct answers allowed you to advance to the next round of testing, the physical agility portion. The year I was hired was the very first time a woman (Hey Annie!) managed to reach this level and continue on to the next component of the hiring method.

The third event for many is the most difficult; it is the face to face oral interview. I have written about this in detail before. The whole thing is set up as a means to measure intelligence, dynamic thinking, decision making and many other things, and to do it under intense pressure after all a job as a firefighter hangs in the balance.

This is such a critical phase of testing that many books, websites, videos, and in person enactments have been created to prepare the potential employee for the rigors of the oral interview. One question that is most assuredly asked of every candidate is this one. “How far do you want to go in your firefighting career?”

I am almost as sure that nearly every single person that is offered that question responds with the pretty much the same rejoinder “Someday I’d like to be the chief.” No shit! Really you want to be “the” chief, the big, you want to be large and in charge?

If you answered that way I pray that in fact that didn’t happen to you. I said it because I felt it was expected, I mean who goes in there and says “I’ll be happy to just stay a firefighter.” No one that’s who. The officers sitting on the other side of the table want to know you have drive that you will always be striving for more, for perfection maybe.

Me, I had some hopes of promoting, maybe to lieutenant or captain, that would have been good. My personal problems prevented that and I watched over the years many of my peers become my superior. I watched many achieve the rank of chief, district chief or battalion chief, deputy chief and then one actually became The Chief.

All of these men and one woman who made chief (bless her she has passed) that I watched move up the proverbial ladder that I had worked with over the years morphed once in the gold. I knew all of them as firefighters as the boots on the ground as the hose draggers they were and in some cases weren’t. I had a feel for all of them just as they knew me.

My destiny wasn’t to be a member of the gold badge club and that really was a good thing, my career would have ended way before it did if I had stepped any further in to the lime lights.

The guy I knew that made it to the pinnacle of my old department announced yesterday suddenly that he was going to retire. Good luck to him, he put in more than 30 years himself. He went from fireman to paramedic, to lieutenant, to captain, to district chief, to deputy chief and then finally The Chief. Quite a feat if you think about the odds in the modern fire service for rising through the ranks to be top dog.

My experiences under 6 chiefs were wide and varied, some came from within and some from the outside. The outside chiefs came in blind and suffered tremendously from that. They weren’t one of “us”, yeah maybe they were firefighters, but they were firefighters somewhere else. Man did they have a challenge in front of them. To this day I still count one as a friend and admire him greatly. He gave it a great go and made profound changes in the way the Colorado Springs fire department operates today.

He was followed by two internal promotions; I only worked for one of those as I retired before the latest took command, and take command he did. Every firefighter has their own private little bitches about the job and everyone fantasizes about how it would be if one day I were king.

I think of an old Woody Allen movie Bananas, in the movie Woody Allen becomes the leader of a small country and as the Ruler he announces his new rules for his citizens.

His character’s name is Esposito. “From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now… 16 years old!”

The one thing that all the Chiefs had in common was a fascination with what our uniforms looked like, I have no idea why but changing the uniform or uniform policy was addressed early in every regime, Lord knows why.

What I do know is this, the fire department in my community is considered in official studies by the city, to be the best buy the citizens make with their tax dollars. They love us and they don’t care what we wear, what our shoes look like, or that we have a nap in the afternoon, they don’t care if buy groceries on duty, they don’t care if we work out and the list goes on and on. They care about this, when they need us we are there, that we help and save lives, and put out fires and give their kids badge stickers and are trustworthy and so on.

The people that care about all the petty shit are Woody Allen in my book. But I’m retired and none of their decisions actually effect me, but they do have an impact on morale and the new chief has nowhere to go but up form here.

A representative in the school superintendent’s office says the incident occurred just before 7:50 a.m.

The smell of gas prompted an alarm to be sounded.

Students were then led out of the building.

They returned by around 9 a.m., according to the staffer in the superintendent’s office.  

No injuries were reported.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a lieutenant at Station 39 on Portola Avenue who collected $221,000 in overtime last year, raising his total salary to $363,000.

The newspaper reported that the Fire Department has already spent its $38 million overtime budget with two months to go in the fiscal year, and it’s asking the Board of Supervisors to approve another $4.1 million.

Tom O’Connor, president of the firefighters union, told the Chronicle some firefighters put in hundreds of hours of overtime a year. He blamed chronic understaffing caused by the department’s failure to fill 400 vacant positions.

Chief Joanne Hayes-White concedes that the current OT model is not sustainable.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Ninety-nine per cent of the people who utilize 9-1-1 are doing so within the parameters of its intended use.

The other 1% are Dumbasses.

Read the rest…

One of the major hurdles in developing a successful AFG application is to determine what is a need verses what is a want? What a fire department sees as a need may not necessarily be viewed as a need by the AFG system or an AFG evaluator.

Having worked on nearly a thousand AFG grants in the history of the program, I feel that I have a reasonably sound idea of what is viewed as a legitimate need and something that is eligible for funding. Following are some general guidelines about what has a chance of getting funded and what does based on my experiences and observations.

Legitimate Needs:

• Equipment that is aged beyond what is permissible in accordance with NFPA standards or other applicable regulations
• Equipment that has deteriorated or has been damaged beyond repair to the point where it is unsafe for fire and EMS personnel to use or inhibits fire and emergency operations
• A lack of basic safety equipment such as a complete set of PPE for every firefighter
• A lack of, or inadequate supply of, basic firefighting or EMS equipment, such as hose or a defibrillator
• A lack of a functional front-line piece of firefighting or EMS apparatus, such as a pumper or tanker (tender)
• A lack of training resources and a need for basic training for firefighters such as FFI, FII, SCBA training etc.

Some examples of grant requests that have not fared well in the AFG system include:

• A request to replace an aged fire truck or ambulance when there is a new piece of equipment of the same type sitting in the station. An example would be replacing a 30 year old pumper when there is a 10 year old or newer pumper in the station.
• Replacing a truck just to stay on a truck replacement schedule
• Replacing a truck because it is underpowered or has design deficiencies.
• Aerial trucks
• Customized fire apparatus
• Requesting a new piece of equipment that addresses a limited exposure. A good example for this would be requesting an ATV when the department can only document one or two incidents a year (or less) that it could be used for.
• Replacing PPE that is less than 10 years old
• Replacing SCBA that is less than 15 years old

Exceptions to all of these observations can be found.

Every year I answer the question hundreds of times: Do you think my fire department can get this, or this or this? I have a series of questions I ask them to help them make a determination if they have a legitimate need that has a chance of getting funded. I am making this information available to help fire and EMS departments determine if the apparatus, equipment or training they are thinking about applying for under the AFG has a chance of being funded or not and is worth the effort or the expense if you are working with a grant consultant. If you have several items you are considering, this guidance may also help you determine which item has the best chance for a successful AFG award.

What must be kept in mind at all times is that the AFG Program is designed to address basic firefighting and EMS operations and training needs. You must be able to demonstrate that you cannot and never will be able to pay for the apparatus, equipment or training that you have determined you need.
Another consideration to keep in mind is that a particular want or need that does not have a good opportunity for success in the AFG program may have an opportunity with some other grant. There are literally thousands of other grant sources available through private and corporate foundations. In my experience, however, very few provide funding for fire and emergency services. Determining what may be available requires research and often times the services of a professional grant consultant.

Steve Meyer is a fire chief, grant writing and emergency management consultant. You can find out more about his services at his website http://www.stevemeyerconsulting.com.

Morgan wants me to stay home

I liked fire. I would break into abandoned homes that had fireplaces and sit around all night enjoying burning sticks and leaves.  Sometimes the houses were not abandoned but were for sale.

Running out of indoor places for fires, I recruited Osama and Gohar to collect pine needles, gasoline and wooden pallets from a nearby drop-off point. We trundled down a slope to the creek behind a bunch of town homes about 200 yards from my house. Bent over to walk our pyrotechnics into the drainage pipe beneath the road. Went all the way until we got to the confluence of six or eight of these pipes, a tall room with a man-hole cover at top.

Stacked the shit and lit it. We were a good quarter mile from our entrance/exit, the other pipes coming in all too slender.

It went up slowly at first, so we added the gasoline. I am retarded. Not was, still am. I have probably lit a hundred fires since then with gas. Once or twelve times burning the mantle in my own home.

The blaze caught and created this smoky substance. We found it difficult to breathe. We moved back down the tunnel. The smoky substance was already there. We ran. I ran back to put the fire out. No success. I ran back out.

I think we barely made it out, choking and spitting. We were spotted by a local tough named Sarah Snodderly. She actually went up to the police to give them our names. The fire department was pissed. They had smoke reports for a three mile radius, coming out of sewers and man-hole covers.

In the short term, the cops asked to sniff our hands. We had washed. They sent us home after yelling at us. Red faced and afraid of trouble, we dispersed to a place from where we could watch the non-action of the fire-fighters. A couple went in with air tanks and dragged our pile of wood out.

Later on, I found out the long term benefits of our fire. The town was discussing what had happened, but this was 1993, and the U.S. had no worry about terrorists. And we began noticing metal grills going up over sewage drains.

The man reacted and put up a fence. Hey, sorry to have contributed to the stupidity of people who believe that giving up freedom is a necessary evil.

I leave with this quote by Ben Franklin:

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant was announced by fire officials on Wednesday. The equipment will enable paramedics to detect and treat life threatening cardiac emergencies quickly.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

No serious injuries sustained when a train and a school bus collided Tuesday afternoon

A train collided with a school bus at the crossing on 4th Street East near the elementary school in Carlyle on Tuesday, March 26. There were seven elementary students onboard at the time of the collision. The bus was travelling south across the tracks to pick up students from the high school. Witnesses told RCMP the school bus had come to a complete stop before proceeding to cross the tracks when it was struck by an east bound train. The bus was struck on the right front passenger side where the front axle is located. RCMP stated that this was fortunate as it forced the bus to simply spin off the tracks. The driver and all seven youth were all examined by EMS and released to family at the scene. EMS, the Fire Department, and RCMP all responded to the collision. By 5 p.m. the train was moved following the opening of the intersection through the removal of the bus.

Eyewitnesses, being my nieces and nephew saw Fonzie at the crime scene. Now there is no evidence to link Fonzie with said incident, but as usual, he was there. The train tracks are one of his hangouts, because of the grain lying around (rodents to be chased), and the elementary school, where my nieces and nephew go to school. It was said he was rootin’ around underneath the wreckage and generally making sure everything was satisfactory. If he had been given a mic, he could have been “Triumph the Insult Comic Dog” and reported the entire thing. Days later I read in the Police report of our newspaper that a dog was found off-leash roaming the streets. This time it wasn’t Fonzie, on account of he was at the accident.

It just goes to prove my theory that Fonzie is indeed a small dog at large in our tiny little community, and as we speak he is out wandering around, probably helping an old lady cross the street or directing traffic at the school. He’s a man about town with a big mission who just can’t be contained. Sigh.

April 9 saw a complaint of a dog roaming loose in Carlyle. RCMP located the owner and spoke with them regarding the town by-laws. – NOT FONZIE

This picture clearly shows Fonzie was laying low by the time the cops came, but we’d like to think he didn’t have anything to do with this. He’s not talking.

We’re coming

Click the link for photos http://bit.ly/11g5Fki

One of the most important parts of becoming a firefighter is being a well rounded first responder. When responding to any incident a first responder must have a wide variety of skills and know how to act in any given scenario. There is much more to being a firefighter than just knowing how to fight fires.

Almost every single fire department you must be a Emergency Medical Technician Basic (EMT-B), depending on the location sometimes even a Paramedic. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has become a monumental part of the firefighter community. In some fire departments up to 85 percent of their calls are EMS. It doesn’t matter if you’re a part of a volunteer or paid agency, EMS is everywhere. The fire department and the ambulance work alongside each other on scene.

Almost every car crash there needs to have the use of the fire department and the ambulance. The fire department takes care of traffic control, makes sure the car is secured safely making sure the battery is disconnected and no fluids are leaking. If the ambulance does not arrive on scene the same time as the fire department the fire departments first priority is patient care.

The victims that are involved in a car crash are the fire fighters first priority but they must know how to treat the victims. If the firefighters are EMT’s then they are going to be assessing the patients. If the patients are experiencing any neck or back pain they have their neck immediately stabilized by a firefighter. They are extricated in a neck collar and onto a backboard. Then they are further evaluated by the ambulance and taken to the hospital for evaluation by a Doctor.

To fully help in those kinds of situations the firefighters must be properly trained to help treat patients. An EMT course is generally three to four months long depending on the hours and they teach how to treat patients with basic lines of support. “You can’t become a firefighter without knowing how to do EMS, it’s everywhere we go,” said Jason Imes, firefighter and EMT.

When a 911 call goes out for a person saying they’re having a heart attack the fire department responds. They must know what signs and symptoms the patient is experiencing. If they are waiting on the ambulance is arrive they should get a baseline set of vitals, write on the patients history, medications, any allergies and what their main symptoms and concerns. “Timing is very important especially with a critical patient,” said Imes. If the patient is having chest pain the fire department should know how much aspirin to administer and put the patient on oxygen.  

Firefighters must be extremely versatile. Their skills should be wide and know how to perform them within a matter of minutes from waking up in the middle of the night. People’s lives are at stake, there is no room for error. Firefighters are special people who expect nothing in return, they’re just doing their jobs.

One of the most important parts of becoming a firefighter is being a well rounded first responder. When responding to any incident a first responder must have a wide variety of skills and know how to act in any given scenario. There is much more to being a firefighter than just knowing how to fight fires.

Almost every single fire department you must be a Emergency Medical Technician Basic (EMT-B), depending on the location sometimes even a Paramedic. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has become a monumental part of the firefighter community. In some fire departments up to 85 percent of their calls are EMS. It doesn’t matter if you’re a part of a volunteer or paid agency, EMS is everywhere. The fire department and the ambulance work alongside each other on scene.

Almost every car crash there needs to have the use of the fire department and the ambulance. The fire department takes care of traffic control, makes sure the car is secured safely making sure the battery is disconnected and no fluids are leaking. If the ambulance does not arrive on scene the same time as the fire department the fire departments first priority is patient care.

The victims that are involved in a car crash are the fire fighters first priority but they must know how to treat the victims. If the firefighters are EMT’s then they are going to be assessing the patients. If the patients are experiencing any neck or back pain they have their neck immediately stabilized by a firefighter. They are extricated in a neck collar and onto a backboard. Then they are further evaluated by the ambulance and taken to the hospital for evaluation by a Doctor.

To fully help in those kinds of situations the firefighters must be properly trained to help treat patients. An EMT course is generally three to four months long depending on the hours and they teach how to treat patients with basic lines of support. “You can’t become a firefighter without knowing how to do EMS, it’s everywhere we go,” said Jason Imes, firefighter and EMT.

When a 911 call goes out for a person saying they’re having a heart attack the fire department responds. They must know what signs and symptoms the patient is experiencing. If they are waiting on the ambulance is arrive they should get a baseline set of vitals, write on the patients history, medications, any allergies and what their main symptoms and concerns. “Timing is very important especially with a critical patient,” said Imes. If the patient is having chest pain the fire department should know how much aspirin to administer and put the patient on oxygen.  

Firefighters must be extremely versatile. Their skills should be wide and know how to perform them within a matter of minutes from waking up in the middle of the night. People’s lives are at stake, there is no room for error. Firefighters are special people who expect nothing in return, they’re just doing their jobs.

Right at the very bottom of New Jersey! Cape May is about as South as you can get and still be in NJ. It’s a small town but rich in history and with plenty to offer. It has plenty of old houses that give it that old look and feel. Fortunately, there is a law in place to prevent people from tearing old buildings in order to preserve its historic look. The people of Cape May have preserved not just the old houses but also that old time charm and hospitality.

Right off the bus stop you’ll be greeted by the courteous staff of Cape May’s own “Welcome Center”. The people there will do their best to make you feel welcome and loved. They’ll instantly provide you with an informative little activity map that shows all the different events and hot spots in town. Directions, hotels, motels, parking, boredom, they can help you with all that and more. You can go and ask the most vague question ever, they’ll quickly respond with something that might be useful to you. Even if you don’t have anything in particular to ask about you can just go and have a delightful conversation with the staff members on duty. If you ever go there, ask for Craig. He’s a real charmer. He can give you better directions than your car GPS, better info about Cape May and it’s surroundings than Google, and unless he’s already busy helping someone else he’s always up for a nice chit chat about anything and everything that comes to mind. One more thing you could do is to tell him Paul sent you and give him a big hug from me.

Cape May is rich in historical sites, one of which is Congress Hall, the former summer home of Harrison, Buchanon, and Lincoln. It’s now the biggest hotel in town and also the best place to work at. Housekeepers, stewards, cooks, bussers, bartenders, and more. At Congress Hall they treat their employees with kindness and respect. They make you feel like you’re part of one big family. You get a free uniform, a free backpack and also one day of paid training which involves a free breakfast and lunch while watching a video made by the current owners of the hotel, telling you about how they started it all. If they like you, they may even hire you for next year with a higher salary and even housing. It’s also the best place to be at if you’re a tourist. Congress Hall always has some sort of big event planed every week. Their planners take the words “Never a dull moment” quite seriously. You can go there alone, as a couple, with the whole family or even plan a wedding and bring everyone you know, in any case you won’t regret it. Congress Hall is also considered to be the big brother of all the properties of the Cape May Resorts Group. The other properties are The Beach Shack with is a nice little place to get a drink at and as the name suggests it’s near the beach, The Virginia hotel, which is like a mini version of Congress Hall when it comes to luxury, and last but not least The Sandpiper, an alternative to the high end luxury offered by the other two.

For those of you who saw the last post you’ll be glad to know that Cape May has all that and more. It has a 7-eleven, an Acme Market, and a Wawa. Oddly enough they seemed to be placed quite strategically. A Wawa on one end of town, a 7-eleven at the other and the Acme Market is right in the middle. Another fun thing to know about the town is the Aviation museum. It has several models ranging from bi-planes to WWII fighter planes on display and for a price even offers rides with certain signature planes. Not interested in the old fashioned, looking for something more modern? Well you’ll be glad to know that Cape May also has a Coast Guard base nearby. The boys there often organize parades all along Beach Avenue. Aside from the regular troop marches and the marching band, they sometimes show the antique fire trucks which are normally on display at the local CMFD.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Like all places, it also has some drawbacks, especially for first time WAT students. One drawback is that it is primarily filled with cafes, motels, hotels, houses for rent, and other tourist related buildings. The closest social security office, DMV or AT&T office is in a neighboring town called Rio Grande. When someone says neighboring town people usually think that it’s far but that’s not the case at all here. Rio Grande is definitely worth a visit and it’s only twenty minutes away by bus or $2.10 in terms of bus fare. There’s lot’s more I can tell you about Rio Grande but that’s a story for another post. Stay tuned for New Jersey Part 2, Rio Grande! Hope you had a good weekend. You’ll have plenty of those in Cape May. Don’t forget to like on Facebook, follow on Twitter and the blog itself if you’re a fellow blogger.

@acpresstopnews @larryenright @redtaperewind @anjkhem You’ve been quoted in my #Storify story “Cape May,NJ” sfy.co/t4yT

— WAT & AUBG (@WATAUBG) April 22, 2013