We shall not forget those which gave their lives for others. Nor shall we forget those which were taken from us without a choice.
updated 04/08/2009
Hillbilly (hil'bil'e), n., pl,-ies, informal. -n. a person who lives in the backwoods of a mountain region, expecially in the South.
Welcome to the Ozarks!! Or at least the 'Backdoor to the Ozarks'. The Back Door you may ask? Yep! Dad always told me, "Your goodfriends always come to the back door."
If you enter Missouri at St. Louis, you see the Arch, the "Gateway to the West". If you enter Missouri from the Southwest out to Oklahoma, Indian Territory, on U.S 60 Highway which heads east from Afton, Ok., off Interstate 44 (also know as the first exit to Branson, Mo.). You enter Missouri near the small town of Seneca. Now 15 miles east of there you run into Neosho the Country Seat of Newton County. We have no Arch, but we do have a Wal-Mart with a Couple of Arches. Neosho, also known as the 'Flower Box City', has apopulation of about 10,000 and is the largest town in the county. From Neosho, you can travel east on U.S. 60 or turn south on U.S. 71 and endup in the Ozarks. We are just at the edge of the Ozark Mountains on the northwest corner. Basically, the Ozarks are everything south of Interstate 44, from St. Louis to Joplin. There is a little bit of the Ozarks on the north side of I-44, in an area known as Lake of the Ozarks, but the largest part is south. See what the weather is doing and what's going on in the area and what's going on in the backyard.
Hilbille?? Yep.. even if it isn't spelled right..born and raised in the same town. My oldest use to call it a boring town. She now has her MRS Degree, she and her husband now live in Small Town Missouri after living in Tulsa, Oklamoma. Neosho isn't such a bad little town to live in after all. I want to THANK HER for getting this page started, now if I can just keep it up.. My youngest, who's the ,Tom Boy, doesn't say much about the area, although she does like Colorado, Florida, South Dakota, and a bunch of other states. And Mrs. H, is happy where we are. Or at least, for over 36 years, she hasn't told me we need to move to some other place. Although, she has told me where to go a couple of times....mainly out of the house.... ;-).Married to the same lady for right at 36 years, that's a record by todays standards. Even with me going into my second childhood, information below. She loves working with kids and she will tell you that I'm the biggest.
This Hilbille is a Fire Fighter. I got started into fire fighting at the old age of 15 by working for the Missouri Department of Conservation after school and on weekends for .90 per hour. I have to credit my older brother for getting me interested in Conservation. When I was 7, he went out west after graduating high school and worked in the big woods of Oregon . When he came home and told all the tales, I was hooked. I had to go out west and work one of the fires. I have to say one thing about my older brother, he has done a lot more than I will ever do and he's gone through a lot more than I could ever stand to..(LOVE Ya and MISS ya BIG BROTHER).. After I graduated high school, I went to the University of Missouri, majoring in Forestry. I couldn't handle the way of life at the University, so I came home. I attended our local Jr. College and went back to work for the Conservation Commissionas a secondary towerman, still hoping to get my chance at a western fire. All dreams must end and reality set in, I got married to my high school sweetheart.
Now I had to get a real job. I started to work in a local factory, which lasted for 6 month, I needed the out-of-doors. I found a job with the Neosho Fire Department. Been there and done that for over 36 years. There are a few things that I would do different, but not many. I now carry the title of Chief of the department or departments, City of Neosho and the Neosho Area Fire Protection District. One department serving two areas. Our response area is only about 92 square miles with populations of 10,000 City and about 7-8,000 in the District. My old duties of being Deputy Fire Chief/Training Officer, have been passed on to a couple of other individuals the department, yes a Fulltime Deputy Chief and a Fulltime Training Officer, dang we're growing...That gives me the opportunity to do even more 'Chief Stuff' and have fun Playing..
It took me 35 years, but I did it!! In 1994, at the age of 43 years, I made my first western fire. I landed in Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, near Challis, Idaho, and then onto the McCall Fire, which ended at over a 100,000 acres. It wasa true learning trip. I thought I would die from: the heat, dust, long hours, long walks, and the altitude. Was it worth the wait? You bet!! WouldI do it again? Done it again!! In 1996, the crew landed in California, on the Ackerson Complex. We actually got to blow the 'IT' out of Yosemite. We laid out 9000 feet of explosives and blew in a fire line anyone would have been proud of. But, they never used it. We even found gold in one of the folding tanks, which we were using to pump water out of. The views were great once we got out of the smoke and dust. Don't think I would like to go back toCalifornia to fight fire, but if I have to, they won't have to twist myarm to hard, Now Alaska would be real nice....:-)
UP DATE:
MADE IT TO FLORIDA 1998: I'm very sorry about what I had to say about California, Anyone want to help cut a line across the Florida border and help sent it away? REALLY THOUGH...THE PEOPLE DOWN THERE WERE GREAT.. IT'S THE STATE I QUESTION..:-)More information to follow..Bear with me..
Well it's time..The Bears have been nipping at me long enough.Florida 1998
As I said, "The People down there were great!!"..and here's one of them.
Check back every now an again..I'm get'n ready to start on another childhood adventure and try some'n different. My 2nd childhood requires that I wear a new type of headprotection, as if I really need it, it may get interesting this year. And Yep..I've already got to use it in Arkansas and Oklahoma and in August,2001, I added Yellowstone National Park to this list. The background picture on this page was one of the small fires we were working with in Yellowstone. Since Missouri don't use this type of equipment, I have to go else where, NOW ain't that Terrible. There may even be a story in it. (Yes, I'm still here, but been a little busy.) Since I've posted this part, I've been to Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, 2 times to Washington, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho twice, and a once in a lifetime trip (I hope) to Texas on the Columbia Recovery mission to the list. It has been interesting working as a Helicopter Crew Member (HECM) for the past few years and getting to meet new people, make new friends, getting to see some of these individuals in different places, and being able to see wildfire from another angle. Hang tight!! Maybe one of these days, I'll get the chance to go play and have a chance to work a new tail.
Our computer service has started this page, just wish I had that much time to kill and could get paid to do it.
On November 7th, 2005, Tim Hardy, one of my Engineers was killed in the Line of Duty. Tim was 1 of my 35 outstanding individuals within the department and will be missed by everyone. We are working on a new Tribute to Tim and hope to have it up and running in the future.
On May 5th, 2006, our department lost another very dear friend. My Administrative Assistant Karyn passed suddenly away at the age of 42. She had been with the department for more than 10 years. Her loss left yet another void within the department.
Good Friends are Hard to Find, Harder to Loose, and IMPOSSIBLE to Forget.
Every now and then there is a Good Day, in what we do. We just do what we're trained to do and say it's just part of the job and others have to remind, us otherwise.
The following are some more of the places where I go get away from the real world. So enjoy!! U'ns come back and visit every now and again, cause I'm think'n that this page will be changing..and more pages are in the works...and if you wood drop down to the bottom of this hear page an sign my guest book, I'd appreciate it..
One of my Hobby's, WORK'N on OLD and CUSTOM Cars. WOOoops, didn't mean to use that DURTY 4 LETTER WORD.."WORK!!!!", more like PLAY'N....
