This past April, we had a great workshop hosted by Seaside Fire and Rescue. Unfortunately, two weeks prior to the workshop we lost a great sister, Karna Cupples, who passed away due to medical conditions associated with a heart attack. Karna was the Office Administrator for Seaside Fire and her passing was a huge loss to her department as well. Thankfully the workshop was able to move on and was a huge success due to the efforts of Mary Lou Busch, Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD, and Karin Goodman, Vernonia RFPD. These two ladies, along with Seaside Fire and Rescue, put on one of the best workshops I’ve ever attended.
Here is a brief summary of our sessions:
A great session on computer programs showed us the tips, tricks and shortcuts in Publisher, Excel and Word. We all use some or all of these programs and it is fun to discover the little hints on how to make our lives easier using these shortcuts. We even got handouts to leave by our desks to remind us of what we discovered.
Our financial session was excellent and taught us how to set up a financial plan. Very interesting information; you’re never too young to start planning for retirement.
After a great lunch, we had an afternoon packed with various ways of protecting ourselves….whether it be emergency preparedness, awareness of strangers around you when leaving work late or a suspicious package arriving at your workplace, hazards in the aquatic environment, and, last but not least, knowing the signs of stress and finding resources after experiencing a major incident. All the sessions were excellent and full of great information.
Dinner that evening was hosted by the officers and volunteers of Seaside Fire and Rescue at their facility. We enjoyed a variety of seafood dishes including fresh clams, scallops as well as great steaks.
Friday morning we wrapped up our workshop with a class entitled “Clamming Up, Blowing Up, or Speaking Up in the Workplace”. We learned the characteristics of each and how to respond to those individuals, drawing professional boundaries in the workplace.
At the conclusion of the workshop, a plaque in remembrance of Karna was presented to the Seaside Fire Chief and Volunteers.
Thank you to all of our presenters and especially to Mary Lou and Karin for stepping up, taking over, and giving us a super workshop.
A job well done!!~submitted by Deb Keehn, Vice President
