Finally!  All the pictures are posted...enjoy!

My goodness! Joanne sent me 40+ pix! I am working on getting them all posted...here are the first couple. I will try to get to more of them tomorrow. Have a great weekend everybody, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms on the blog!

It was my pleasure Joanne! I will try to get these pictures up and posted as soon as I can!

Just a quick note to thank everyone for helping make Summerville Elks Lodge #2719’s first annual Student Government Day a success.

The students were enthusiastic and enjoyed their time spent with their assignments. All the representatives from the government offices were just great with the students and made their day one to remember.

A special thanks to our guest speaker, Sherriff Nash and of course you Brad for covering our event.

Joanne M Billman, ER
Summerville Elks Lodge #2719

Haha. That’s really funny. If my dad had been a firefighter I probably would have done something similar. But he isn’t so I can’t really say I’ve done that. (Its okay. I don’t think you’re THAT weird...hahaha. Just kidding!!)
Maybe one day I’ll go back and do another ride-along and hope that I get to see them in action.
Have a great day Brad!

Hey Everyone! I got the oppurtunity to shadow Judge Merriman, who I might add was fabulous! We spent the day doing 4 Bond Hearing and one Warrant Hearing! Nothing too serious. Afterwards I had a chance to meet all the people who work in the Magistrate’s Office and got to learn their jobs.  One of the ladies shoed me how to look up online the offenses and what consequences go with each.  I was very neat and helpful!  I also learned the heirarchy of the courts in South Carolina and that the basis of all laws are the Constitution(even though I already knew that!) We were going to go to the jail, but we didn’t have time:(! I thought the little video cameras that they used for court instead of bringing the criminals in was the coolest thing ever!  I had so much fun and thanks to everyone at the Elks Lodge!

Hey everyone! I had a fabulous time shadowing Mrs. Theresa McKnight at the Dorchester Emergency Preparedness Division! I listened to calls at the Dispatch center and learned from Justin how cartography is used to help all the departments out. I learned that Emergency Preparedness helps out when large groups come together, such as Red Cross, the Police Department, etc. It was a slow day (no catastrophic oil or chemical spills) but I learned a lot and thanks to everyone at the Elks Lodge!

Sorry you didn’t get to go anywhere with the lights and sirens on Hannah. I still get a charge out of doing that! When I was young I turned on the siren on my dad’s car-while it was in the driveway- and taped it...I totally drove around with that tape playing (just loud enough for me to hear)...such a weirdo. I have a feeling other firefighter’s kids did something similar, not necessarily to that extreme though.

It was cool meeting all of you too!

Todays Student Government trip was SO much fun. I definitly learned a whole lot about an EMT’s average day. I rode with Amy and Ariana in medic #2 and we had a lot of fun telling stories and just talking about their jobs. I learned about how everything inside the Ambulance worked, and it was all so interesting. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any calls either (due to the “ride-along curse” haha). I’ll just have to try again some other time. But I had a lot of fun making new freinds and talking to the EMT’s. They are awesome and I am very grateful that we have such nice people working to keep us all safe. I meet Brad Franko and that was cool.
Also, I loved the Mashed Potatoes as well. (I even got the recipe. :D) Mmm…
I think I might join the Elk lodge when I get old enough. They are a really great group and they do a lot for our community. Thats about it.

Haha, i guess you’re right. But at least I was surrounded by EMTs.

Umm, Ayana...I’m not positive, but pretty sure there is a very non-PC joke in that statement about the mashed potatoes, and your assignment to EMS!!

Glad you had such a good time...everytime I do ride-alongs it’s the same story too.  However, the last time I hung out with Mt. Pleasant FD, we ran twice!

Hey everyone...don’t forget to send me pictures so I can get them posted!  bfranko@wcbd.com

Today’s field trip to the Elks lodge was amazing! I shadowed two EMTs, cindy and joe. Cindy showed me everything there was to see inside the ambulance and what everything was for, which was fascinating. We then went to the coronor’s office to move some boxes, [didnt see any dead bodies though. ha.] and I really enjoyed being able to ride around backwards in the back of the ambulance. Then we went to the trailer and watched cops and waited for a call. Unfortunately, due to the “ride-along curse” There were no calls for us. And we had the busiest truck! Then we went back to the lodge for the ceremony and lunch, which was delicious! The mashed potatoes were to die for. :D
It was a really great day and I would love to do this again next year!!!

The 1st annual student/goverment day was outstanding. Our “shadow” was Mariel. We ended up giving her the nickname “Sprinkles”. She kept us in stitches and provided probably the most humerous testimony about thier days adventure. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Elks Lodge and student goverment.

Hey Geno and Lauren! It was great to meet you guys today!  Glad to hear you had such a great day.  I told some of the others that experience is a huge part of education. I would not have the job I have had it not been for the internship I had in college.  While this is just one day, it’s enough for you to see the value of “on the job training”

Good luck, and thanks for sharing!

I had a great time at the Student Goverment day, it was very interesting. I shadowed Mrs.Carter, who is a Victim’s advocate, and counsels all victims who were effected by a crime, such as girls or boys being sexual assulted, threatened, stocked, homicides and even suicides. I learned that Victim’s advocates can provide restraining orders and protection orders for those who have a legitimate reason for needing it. I got to shadow Mrs. Carter for several hours, and even that wasn’t enough time to understand what she has to go through everyday. Everytime someone calls her on the office phone or her cell phone she has to answer, whether it is two in the morning or eleven at night. Victim’s advocates are very important and I didn’t realize that they talked to each other in numbers and had to tell the dispacthers where they are going and who they are with at all times. I learned so much from Mrs. Carter and I thank everyone who made this event possible and for allowing me the opportunity to participate in it.

The student government day was a blast.  Today, I shadowed Mrs. Billings, and she is a Detective Assistant at Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office.  She took me through all the judicial and executive branches of the job.  The highlights of my day were when I saw the Dispatch Telecommunication Center and the Booking Process Center.  I would recommend any friend of mine to try to participate in this event next year!