Part - 23 - Volunteering

RAISIN'

23. VOLUNTEERING

I was vice president of the Davidson High School Band Parents Association, and JoAnne and I were at ALL performances. I would brag on the members of the band, telling them that I had 2 younguns and 146 "Other Younguns" in that band.

Most of the performances were fun, but when I'd have to walk with them during Mardi Gras parades, trying to keep the people back out of the street so the band could get through was NO fun.

During the time the kids were in High School, we worked as volunteers for the Red Cross. We would work first aid stations at most all the football games, work at disaster shelters and with the Mobile County Sheriff's Flotilla. Over a three-year period, I worked over 1,500 hours for the Red Cross, teaching first aid classes and working first aid stations.

I was a member of the Mobile County Sheriff's Flotilla; a search and rescue unit of volunteers to handle water related emergencies. Since I didn't have a boat, I served as a Radio Officer. Also, I kept the converted Air Force School bus that had been made into a portable base station that was set up at each disaster location.