From the top

Happy February! February is American Heart Month; this is a good time to be aware about your heart health.

LWR CERT has been working hard to build opportunities for members to get involved in new ways.

If a disaster hit your neighborhood, would somebody be there to help you? Our number 1 challenge is lack of volunteers. Please help us by bringing at least 1 neighbor to the Hurricane Preparedness session on February 27. If you have an idea for how to involve your neighbors in CERT, please feel free to email or call me. 

I look forward to seeing you at our next session. 

Jim Emanuelson

850.396.2695

Feb. 5: Special Brainstorming Session

Wed, Feb. 5 is a special session to brainstorm for ways to increase membership in LWR CERT.

While we want to grow membership in all neighborhoods, we are initially concentrating efforts on Greenbrook, which was highlighted at the member meeting. Riverwalk has even fewer members. Come share your ideas - regardless of neighborhood. The Training Committee has capacity to train 100 new members this year. We just need to identify those 100 residents -- and you can help.

After the brainstorming session, we hope you can join us for dinner, an appetizer or a drink. Separate checks provided.

If you want to share your recruiting ideas, email Tom Hickey, Manager, Membership at [email protected].

Feb 8: 2020 Kickoff meeting for all LWR CERT Team Captains

Saturday, Feb 8 is our 2020 kick-off meeting for Team Captains. We've got a lot of exciting news to share. For starters, Team Captains will get a preview look at the new LWR CERT website.

Then, for the first time, TCs will meet the voices at the other end of the radios -- the LWR CERT radio hub operators -- and hear firsthand how to effectively communicate with their hub. A hands-on session with radios will follow, so TCs should bring along their IC radio, antenna, battery pack and batteries.

In preparation for the 2020 simulation exercise and hurricane season, TCs will learn more about the activation process - how it works, website support. and the TC to IC transition.

The TC Workshop is open to current Team Captains and promises to be hands-on, engaging, entertaining and educational.

Feb 22: New Member-Exclusive Skills Boost: Grid Search

Ever watched the news, heard about a local lost or missing child or elderly person and wondered how you might help? Now there's a way you can learn the skills needed to assist.

This member-exclusive Grid Search session is set for Saturday, Feb. 22. Attendees will learn grid search techniques, how local public officials use grid search, and how they might be able to help local officials during future incidents. This session will be conducted by a member of Manatee County Search and Rescue.

After an educational session, attendees will head outside for a hands-on scavenger hunt using the lessons learned with rewards for attendees with the best observation and grid search skills.

Limited seating. As this is the first time LWR CERT is offering this educational topic, we anticipate the class filling to capacity.

Feb 27: Public Session

Hurricane Prep: Snowbird and Travelers Edition

Join us and invite your neighbors to the Thursday, Feb. 27 special edition of our highly successful Hurricane Preparedness program. The Feb. 27 session runs from 7 - 8:30 PM and will highlight how to prepare in case you are away during hurricane season -- whether it's for a week, a month-long vacation, or a snowbird gone for the entire season.

Hurricane Preparedness presenter Pat Knowles (who is also our Treasurer on the Executive Committee) will be joined by snowbird Rich Raymond (LWR CERT Board of Directors) and John Rocco (a new member who graduated in October) . They'll discuss extreme weather threats that face us here in LWR and how to prepare yourself, your family, and your home before you leave town. You'll also hear tips on what to do in case you happen to be in town when a hurricane threatens.

We encourage you to invite your neighbors to this educational session. Reservations are encouraged a t www.bit.ly/02-27-20 .

Hamming it up

The Radio Communications Committee (RCC) is looking for area ham radio operators or residents interested in becoming ham radio operators to join LWR CERT.

"Hams" are licensed by the FCC after passing a 35-question test. The license is valid for 10 years.

According to Ham and RCC member Gordon Kuhn (KK4CJP), 20 hours of prep can get you through the technician test easily and on the air. "It is not a hard study." Study guides are available from the Manatee Library, and there's even an app to help you prepare!

Interested? Click here to contact Jim Emanuelson (KN4VMK) . Over.

January 20 Member Meeting:

Pet Emergencies and Preparations

The first Member Meeting of 2020 brought out our pet enthusiast members, who were delighted to hear Cheyenne Williams, owner of Shiney Day Specialized Pet Care, discuss pet emergencies and preparations on Jan 20. In addition to a very educational presentation, attendees also received a generous goodie bag from Shiney Day and Animal ER of University Park which contained a pet emergency wallet card, pet waste disposal bag dispenser, and a slip lead leash along with instructions on how to properly use it.

Tom Hickey, Manager, Membership, discussed our recruiting needs, highlighting that Greenbrook has only 3 CERT teams to cover 16 neighborhoods. Members interested in brainstorming ways to increase membership should email Tom at [email protected].

Thank you to Kim Wright, who discovered and organized our speaker, and to Rich Raymond for providing photos of the meeting.

January 25 Resolve to Be Ready Public Event:

Active Shooter Response

The first Resolve to Be Ready 2020 event featured Deputy Mays of the Manatee County Sheriffs Office, who educated the Saturday morning attendees on Active Shooter Response. Deputy Mays focused on what to look for to help prevent active shooting incidents and what average citizens should do if they ever find themselves in an active shooter situation. His summary: Run, Hide, Fight.

Thank you to Deb Diven, who discovered and organized our speaker, to Rich Raymond and Ken Strahs for taking photos, to Kay Marcus for working the sign in table, and to Mel Davis, Joe Kelly and Kim Wright for working the information table. Thanks, too, to all the LWR CERT members who attended and shared their enthusiasm for our organization with the attendees. The event was a tremendous LWR CERT team effort. Thank you all!

Member News

New Treasurer: Pat Knowles has been elected to replace Valerie Stafford-Mallis on the Executive Committee as Treasurer. Valerie stepped down for personal reasons but has agreed to remain a Director on the Board. We thank Valerie for the hours she invested during her tenure and look forward to her continued work on the Board. We are also looking forward to working with Pat as treasurer, a position he has held in the past.

Retiring: We say good bye to Vic and Marilyn Kline, who have made a family decision to retire from LWR CERT so they can spend more time together, enjoying Disney and other things they haven’t been able to get to for some time. Over the past 10+ years, Vic and Marilyn have skipped numerous anniversary and birthday celebrations to support LWR CERT meetings. They are confident that LWR CERT is in good hands with the current board members and managers. We thank both Victor and Marilyn for all the work they have done to build LWR CERT to what it is today and look forward to seeing them around The Ranch.

Simulation Committee: The Operations Committee is working on the 2020 Simulation event. While we can't tell you when it will be (cuz that would spoil the surprise!), we can tell you that Marty Saia is the Simulation Project Manager with Phil Johnson and Tom Hickey coordinating the planning.

New Basic Training: FEMA released and updated the Basic Training curriculum. A Curriculum Committee led by Nigel Pilling is reviewing the changes and making modifications to the LWR CERT Basic course. You can click here to download a copy of the new Basic Training manual on the Ready.gov website.

Speedy recovery and best wishes to Deb Diven, Gerard Toner, Kay Marcus and Sharon Kelly.

Happy February birthday to Rinita Acevedo, Mark Boutote, Matthew Cangemi, Paul Catalano, Larry Euston, Stephen Greene, Tom Hickey, George Kommick, Jay McLaughlin, Dennis McSherry, Murray Miller, Darelene Nuckols, Dennis Pryor, Bill Quaid, John Rocco, Mollie Saia, Mike Staley, Arline Stein and Martin Stengle!

Volunteer Victims Needed

The Southwest Florida Local Emergency Planning Committee is seeking "Volunteer Victims" to serve as actors during a regional exercise planned for SRQ on Feb. 25.

Click the image on the left for registration information and details.

Manatee County Hurricane Prep Expo

Manatee County Emergency Management, the sponsor of LWR CERT, is hosting their first annual Hurricane Preparedness Expo Thursday, March 5 from 3 - 8 PM at the Bradenton Area Convention Center.

Admission is free and there will be door prizes and giveaways.

Attend to show your support for the folks at Manatee County Emergency Management. In addition to learning about insurance, evacuation levels and hurricane preparedness, there will be vendor booths, entertainment, food demonstrations and an emergency vehicle showcase.

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