Wednesday, 16 October 2024

 Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (10:08): What a cliffhanger! I was really happy to join my family and community members at the Mernda CFA open day recently. It has become an absolute must-do on the calendar in my community. It is helped along by the hot doughnut and coffee van, which helps get the parents there on a weekend morning with the kids. While there the children can see demonstrations of what our firefighters get up to. They can go for rides in vintage fire trucks, jump in jumping castles and of course sit in the driver’s seat or sit up in the truck, which is always very popular with my girls. I did not manage to climb up into the truck this time in my condition, but I think it was a fantastic example of what the Mernda CFA do for our community. Of course that was in the daylight, a beautiful weekend, but a few weeks prior I had been with them on a rainy Monday night where they turn out week after week for training, and that is the real honour and dignity of our volunteers, that when nobody is there to praise them, to see them, they turn up, they train and they prepare to protect their community. They are absolute heroes in my eyes. Thank you to Captain Steve Dusting, Gary, Dean, Jordan, Jai, Sandrah, Ray, Kim, Courtney, Matt, Nella, David and all the crew at the Mernda CFA.