President Ray Musselman
Dear members of the Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association,
I would like to thank the membership of the association for the honor to serve as president, and Riner Volunteer Fire Department for their support and commitment to the association.
We all owe appreciation and gratitude to past president Roy Wall, the members of Dublin Volunteer Fire Department, the convention committee, and our wonderful vendors, and sponsors, which made the 77th Annual Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association Convention an enormous success! We encourage each member to fill out the survey in order to help us make next year’s convention and training even better! The training committee is actively researching multiple training opportunities for next year’s convention, so please let us know what types of training would be helpful to you.
The Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association is the unified voice for all the fire departments in Southwest Virginia. It is our responsibility to ensure that all the departments know and understand what it is the association does for them, and to encourage them to become involved in the association. For we are all stronger together than separate.
Fire departments across the region and around the country are dealing with declines in membership. The younger generations seem to be missing the values instilled in past generations for service to community. It is up to us to find a way to instill the desire and passion that we all share for the fire service with the next generations. The youth are our future!
The association’s annual convention is an amazing opportunity to connect with other members of the fire service community. This is a perfect time to build lifelong relationships, share ideas, goals and experiences. By hearing firsthand, the successes and struggles of other departments, along with training and other resources, this will make each of us better stewards of the craft.
I hope to see everyone at the 78th Annual Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association Convention, held at the Natural Bridge Historic Hotel and Conference Center in Natural Bridge, VA June 13th – 16th, 2024.
If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to share any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to contact me via email at: marvinray423@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Ray Musselman, President
Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association
