Another star-studded event. The “Fire Bowl” at the Midtown Community School in Bayonne New Jersey. The Fire Bowl is a quiz show in which two teams of students answer questions about fire safety. The students were all winners. The team pictured here though, scored the most points, and they took home top honors.
Preparation for the Fire Bowl takes months of study by the teams. Questions go beyond the easy stuff like “how often do you change your batteries in your smoke detectors”. The contestants were great. Performed like real stars.
Hey. Don’t forget the teachers. They’re stars too. Someone had to motivate these guys away from TV and iPods. ( OK, I’m biased, my mother and grandmother were teachers. I know what dedication and patience it takes. )
Also in attendance, firefighters. The guys who rush into burning buildings, face searing heat, suck in clouds of smoke and somehow they keep their cool. When all is crashing around them they manage to pull people out of burning buildings and save lives. Stars. Each and every one.
I was honored to be the moderator of this event. (Tried my best but Alex Trebec’s and Pat Sajak’s careers are safe). Everyone there seemed very appreciative. Treated me like a star and even gave me an award, which has some stars on it as well. (That’s me on the right, along with The State Fire Marshal, Larry Petrillo who puts the whole thing together.)
Look closely though at the award. It’s right there in upper left hand corner, the part that looks like a flag. Count the stars in each row. Now write down the numbers.
Three. Four. Three. Three-hundred-fourty-three. That’s a special number in New Jersey and something that wasn’t a question in the Fire Bowl.
It’s the number of firefighters who lost their lives during 9-11 at the World Trade Center. The award is in my office. Every time I see it, I focus on the stars and what they represent. Everyone at the Fire Bowl learned a lot about fire safety, but they also learned that a career in fire fighting means answering the call no matter what the cost. It’s something for which we are all very grateful.
So, what do the stars mean? Maybe that’s a great bonus for next year’s Fire Bowl.
