After several months of planning, meetings and getting stuff together and done we had our first successful fundraiser for the team.
It was called the “First annual Gary Fox Marine Fund”. If you recall the recovery last year it was a tough one. It took a Side Scan Sonar, ROV and divers to bring him home. Had it not been for the Side Scan we may have never found him. I can say it would have been a 99.9% chance he would have remained on the bottom. http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=141065
After his recovery we managed to get over half of the money donated to purchase a unit. The SS installation into our big boat, an ROV and some much needed dive equipment is still needed but funds are a bit on the shy side. We need $33,500.00 for the ROV, I’d like to get around $15,000.00 to pay the department back for the SS installation and I’d like another $15,000.00 for some upgraded diving equipment.
So we decided to have a fundraiser. Gary M. has been doing Pancake Feeds for his fire department for over 20 years and they do fairly well with them. So with him being the Commander and Chief we went for it. We had to make him feel impotent.
We know we have community support but it really shows at times like this. Lots of really nice raffle items were donated and raised around $2000.00. The breakfast donations were another $2000.00 and a “Fill The Suit” display obtained another $70.00. Not bad for the first one and a day full of rain.
We had 4 PWC’s, an AVON, a Jet Boat, 2 Side Scan Fish, Dive Gear and Rescue Equipment on display. Lane B. did all the outside display stuff and even did some rope search pattern demonstrations.
I was inside the building out of the rain. I had Diver, Side Scan and ROV information to show the public and explain how the three come together during an operation.
I mounted a dry glove system on a Rubber Maid container lid and had people try and locate a gun and a knife that were mixed in with a dozen or so other items inside the container. Most people found the gun but very few could find the knife. That was such a success I’m going to build a bigger and better version for next year. I think the adults had more fun than the kids did. We had normally stone faced very serous people getting excited and frustrated at the same time. We also had some very carefree people get serous when they couldn’t identify or find the items. It was funny to watch.
People were shocked at how hard it was to find those two items in such a small confined area. Even our brass that hadn’t been on the team tried it and now have a bit more understanding and respect for what we do. Our new Under Sheriff tried it and failed miserably. He said if he tried it for real we would be rescuing him. The funny thing is he wasn’t kidding.
Our wives were a big help in putting this thing together and helping make it run smoothly. We had Boy Scouts to help with whatever, jail personal to run coffee and juice from the jail to the Fairgrounds, the Labor Program to help clean up, the Auxiliary helped with everything from packing boxes to holding signs on street corners and other people I don’t have a clue as to who they were or what they were doing.
Every thing came together like a finely tuned Swiss watch and we learned what we need to do to improve it for next year. We ended up feeding a few less than 500 between 0700 and 1300 hours, raised just over $4000.00 and expenses out of our pocket were under $100.00. Now that’s community support.
A very special thanks is due to everyone involved.
Two of us are headed for Tacoma on Friday to pick up the boat with the SS unit installed. It’s been a long time coming and Lane B busted his butt making it become a reality.
Gary D.
It was called the “First annual Gary Fox Marine Fund”. If you recall the recovery last year it was a tough one. It took a Side Scan Sonar, ROV and divers to bring him home. Had it not been for the Side Scan we may have never found him. I can say it would have been a 99.9% chance he would have remained on the bottom. http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=141065
After his recovery we managed to get over half of the money donated to purchase a unit. The SS installation into our big boat, an ROV and some much needed dive equipment is still needed but funds are a bit on the shy side. We need $33,500.00 for the ROV, I’d like to get around $15,000.00 to pay the department back for the SS installation and I’d like another $15,000.00 for some upgraded diving equipment.
So we decided to have a fundraiser. Gary M. has been doing Pancake Feeds for his fire department for over 20 years and they do fairly well with them. So with him being the Commander and Chief we went for it. We had to make him feel impotent.
We know we have community support but it really shows at times like this. Lots of really nice raffle items were donated and raised around $2000.00. The breakfast donations were another $2000.00 and a “Fill The Suit” display obtained another $70.00. Not bad for the first one and a day full of rain.
We had 4 PWC’s, an AVON, a Jet Boat, 2 Side Scan Fish, Dive Gear and Rescue Equipment on display. Lane B. did all the outside display stuff and even did some rope search pattern demonstrations.
I was inside the building
out of the rain. I had Diver, Side Scan and ROV information to show the public and explain how the three come together during an operation. I mounted a dry glove system on a Rubber Maid container lid and had people try and locate a gun and a knife that were mixed in with a dozen or so other items inside the container. Most people found the gun but very few could find the knife. That was such a success I’m going to build a bigger and better version for next year. I think the adults had more fun than the kids did. We had normally stone faced very serous people getting excited and frustrated at the same time. We also had some very carefree people get serous when they couldn’t identify or find the items. It was funny to watch.
People were shocked at how hard it was to find those two items in such a small confined area. Even our brass that hadn’t been on the team tried it and now have a bit more understanding and respect for what we do. Our new Under Sheriff tried it and failed miserably. He said if he tried it for real we would be rescuing him. The funny thing is he wasn’t kidding.
Our wives were a big help in putting this thing together and helping make it run smoothly. We had Boy Scouts to help with whatever, jail personal to run coffee and juice from the jail to the Fairgrounds, the Labor Program to help clean up, the Auxiliary helped with everything from packing boxes to holding signs on street corners and other people I don’t have a clue as to who they were or what they were doing.
Every thing came together like a finely tuned Swiss watch and we learned what we need to do to improve it for next year. We ended up feeding a few less than 500 between 0700 and 1300 hours, raised just over $4000.00 and expenses out of our pocket were under $100.00. Now that’s community support.
A very special thanks is due to everyone involved.
Two of us are headed for Tacoma on Friday to pick up the boat with the SS unit installed. It’s been a long time coming and Lane B busted his butt making it become a reality.
Gary D.
