Setting goals young, setting new goals and never stop working with Chief Bill Beale

Stephen J: (00:11)
Welcome to behind the 10, a podcast that introduces you to the heroic men and women who wear the 10 while protecting our community and hearing about the extraordinary things they're doing when they're badges in Stephen, Jay, the good Lieutenant here, along with Justin, the

Justin: (00:24)
Civilian producer, I am happy to be here today.

Stephen J: (00:26)
Got an interesting day today, Justin. It's not really a, a podcast day for us. It's more of a reflection day. Yeah,

Justin: (00:33)
We did something a little bit different this time around.

Stephen J: (00:35)
We actually got the opportunity to do some live broadcasts, uh, from Duches stadium in Duches county, New York, uh, Hudson valley renegades versus the Brooklyn cyclone on nine

Justin: (00:43)
11. Yeah. What an amazing game and what an, uh, experience that was. It was

Stephen J: (00:48)
Really cool to see the players on the field. Uh, the tribute, I mean, most of those guys were young when nine 11 happened 9 11 0 1 happened. Absolutely. Uh, but the reverence that they gave was truly spectacular. The ceremony that the Hudson valley renegades put together was second to

Justin: (01:05)
None. Yeah. It's always an absolutely beautiful ceremony.

Stephen J: (01:07)
Yeah. The, the guest speakers, they had Marcus Mullan arrow, but Anderson Sue Sereno, real pillars of the community. Uh, and, and I was proud. We were proud to be

Justin: (01:16)
Part of that. Absolutely. And there was such a great crowd. It was, it was just a really nice event. Beautiful weather, amazing fire works.

Stephen J: (01:22)
Note, the fireworks were exceptional. So we had three guests, uh, that we did live. And if you didn't hear it, we're gonna make those three guests in the interviews that we did with them, uh, into three episodes. So today's the first one it's with, uh, bill BELE, a, uh, fire chief outta New York, but a guy that also does some crazy stuff outside of being a fireman. But first let's talk about our cocktails over conversation sponsor today. It's brought to you by Bernadette of Cortland Manor. Oh thank you, Bernadette. And once again, we are happy to indulge in the Hyde park brewing companies. Lawndale.

Justin: (01:54)
Wonderful, absolutely beautiful. Here's one of your favorites. My favorite,

Stephen J: (01:59)
Our other sponsors today are those guys print.com. Those guys for all your apparel and promotional needs visit those guys. print.com and marketing and service.com, podcast marketing and service.com podcast. Visit that to hear our own just in the civilian producer. Yeah,

Justin: (02:15)
That that's that's my other podcast. Check

Stephen J: (02:17)
It out. So let's, uh, let's turn it over to the live version, what we had with bill. So we got bill be here, uh, from K 1 0 4.

Bill: (02:33)
Well,

Stephen J: (02:34)
Among other things among, well, that's what we're gonna talk

Bill: (02:36)
About. And you know, you guys didn't tell me this was gonna be the first live show. Uh, you know, now I'm thinking this is a podcast, you know, it's, you know, recorded. We can edit it as we go. If there's any problems we can just stop and start over. Absolutely. Now you're telling me we're live that wasn't in the contract.

Stephen J: (02:50)
that, that real robust contract. We get our guests to sign. Yes. That's the one the pressure's on.

Justin: (02:55)
Oh, review it with the attorneys.

Stephen J: (02:58)
Yeah. After we're done well, we, we figured no better guest to start with on a live broadcast than a guy does live radio every morning or Monday

Bill: (03:05)
Through Friday. Right? Yeah. And you know, podcasting obviously is a, a huge unchartered, uh, uh, UN pioneered territory, uh, that, uh, uh, you guys are, are, you know, on the cusp of, right. Yeah. So I've been in broadcasting for 18 years, been on the radio, K 1 0 4, uh, on the morning show for 10 years. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's a different, uh, type of vibe than podcasting, but adding the live element here, this is this good I'm I'm in my zone right now. I like this. It's great. Anything can happen, right? A ball could hit the window at any point. You know, what are we gonna do? I mean,

Stephen J: (03:35)
I'm gonna apologize now for looking away from you a couple times. Cause I have most beautiful backdrop behind me, but also to my left, I'm looking at the ball game and I, I love baseball. I worked here when the Renegade first started, I was in the right field barbecue section with Mike passes and Hey, really making, uh, sausage, sausage, sausage, and peppers peppers. Right. I remember that. I used to come here when I was five years old and my dad and you'd be making the sausage and peppers.

Bill: (03:57)
He was already 1520, right?

Stephen J: (04:00)
Yeah. But this, this is incredible. We're up here in suite number five. So if you're listening live you're at the game, you know, come say hi to us. They'll they'll let you in. And actually, uh, we got, we got Carl stickers, we got Carl downstairs. He's got stickers for anybody that's ever listened to an episode who's liked follow shared if they do it right then and

Bill: (04:15)
There I have, I have actually, uh, checked out your podcast and checked some episodes out. You guys are doing a great job. I didn't realize you've only been doing this for two months.

Stephen J: (04:22)
Yeah. I mean, two months we got eight episodes out there. Nine episodes. Yeah. I don't even, you're doing a great job. Thank you. It's been crazy. What's cool. Is I walked around before we got up here and got set and I think I saw three or four guests that we already had on really? And they're walking around and people like, Hey Harold, you know, Steven J the good Lieutenant, you know, Justin, a civilian producer, let's get a picture. I'm like, we're a podcast. You're taking pictures with these people. You guys are famous. This is getting crazy.

Bill: (04:47)
It's, crazy's crazy. You know, more people recognize me from my town board meetings on television than the radio. Now. That's what,

Stephen J: (04:53)
So let's get, let's get into exactly why you're even here. Okay. Cause right now all they got the radio guy on. Yeah. But what people don't know and I'm gonna spill the beans right away. It, you and I go way back.

Bill: (05:04)
I did. Uh, and this is gonna go on the record now, Steve, I took you out for your 21st birthday.

Stephen J: (05:08)
Okay. But was even before that there's a video. Uh, it was on VHS. It doesn't exist anymore. It was like the little one's way gone on. Let me cue up the video. I have it here.

Bill: (05:17)
I can stream it loud. No, I'm not sure that videos ever been, uh, viewed since

Stephen J: (05:20)
Then. I certain never got to watch it cuz it would all be a fresh memory for me

Bill: (05:24)
That point. Yeah. But even before that, uh, we've known each other for, I guess I was trying to figure this out on the way here, uh, over 20 years. Oh way over 20

Stephen J: (05:31)
We're we're we're we're probably 30 plus.

Bill: (05:34)
That's scary. I don't like to say that. So we'll just say 20 years, 20 plus that makes us older. 20 is a nice Ram

Stephen J: (05:39)
Number. I covers 20 covers everything. Right. You, but I mean, we go back in the community. Yeah. And the first time we ever met was involvement in our church. Yeah.

Bill: (05:47)
Oh yeah. And uh, you just reminded me, we were alter servers together were, and uh, that was way back in the day. I mean all okay. That's how we can put it a, a time to it because we would've been, uh, probably 15, 14, 13, I think. Younger than that or younger than that. Right. Younger than that. Yeah. So, you know, I'm in my mid forties now, so yeah. You're talking well, you aged faster

Stephen J: (06:05)
Than me. I, well, you

Bill: (06:06)
Know, that's crazy is what

Stephen J: (06:07)
It is. so we started there and then, you know, uh, we grew up and we rekindled in the fire services. Did you really grow up? No, not really. Well we, uh,

Bill: (06:17)
Questionable you're right. We, uh, we kind of ha lived, uh, parallel lives a little bit in our town because, uh, Steve was, I believe a Lieutenant in new Hackensack fire. That's

Stephen J: (06:25)
Where the good Lieutenant first

Bill: (06:26)
Started. There you go. Oh, that's right. So, uh, and uh, you know, volunteer fire departments, uh, uh, which I'm a, a member of Houston bill, which is on the other side of town and, uh, that's kind of how we, uh, reconnected and uh, you know, I went to many parties at your, uh, parents' house, uh,

Stephen J: (06:41)
Uh, giving it all up today. I mean,

Bill: (06:43)
I can tell you that, uh, those were, those were fun times back in those days, holy smokes. And so people used to get together, think about that concept. People used to actually get together and hang out back what I, I talk

Stephen J: (06:52)
About allowed to hang out and play. Right. And I tell these stories often my brother and I talk about it and this was the time these parties quite epic. Wait,

Bill: (07:01)
Wait, what was the name? What was the name of the party? I, I let's

Stephen J: (07:04)
restock

Bill: (07:06)
Or something like that. Right. Fest or so

Stephen J: (07:09)
They were good names. But the whole point I'm trying to make is these were the times before social media that's right before cell phones. That's right. I think page jurors were some people people might have had 'em but not everybody. No, not everybody. Uh, so what you're saying is you're the luckiest generation, listen, he had a camp quarter with him most of the time. And that's how he talks about the 21st birthday. But I'll tell you right now, unless you had a camp quarter, there's no video evidence of anything and thankfully, no one has a VHS player anymore. Even he did surface the tape, it would be hard. Most kids wouldn and recognize what

Bill: (07:39)
It is. I'm not saying anything further. The fact that you remember that the camcorder, uh, existed tells me that you remember about some of those, uh, events and escapades

Stephen J: (07:48)
. So while, while Bill's playing firemen lacrosse town. Yep. He's also started a DJ business as a kid, as a kid. Yeah. I mean, you were DJing junior high dances. As I recall,

Bill: (07:57)
I did. I started in 19 90 90, uh, doing, uh, school dances at WATS junior high school where, uh, I was attending. And, uh, I remember it was, uh, I think it was in eighth grade and I was doing the seventh grade dance. Right. And, uh, then when I got to high school, I would do the eighth grade dance and, uh, at Catchum, uh, I DJ the basketball games and, uh, you know, did a number of events. I started to do professional events at that point. Cool. And, uh, still doing it now, doing more weddings than ever before now because COVID, uh, really put the breaks on weddings for a year and a half. Uh, a lot of DJs went through some tough times, but now it's, uh, the floodgates are opening now and, uh, the gigs poor bastards. Yeah. Right. can I tell you so

Stephen J: (08:36)
Yeah, you'll take their money. That's what you'll tell them. Hudson valley,

Bill: (08:38)
Djs.com. Okay, good. How'd you get into the DJing? Uh, so I started in theater actually. Uh, um, I actually went to St. Mary's school in, uh WAER and then, uh, left in seventh grade, uh, to go to Wappinger junior high and got involved in, uh, theater and, um, uh, did stage lighting there, uh, and, uh, went out to high school and, uh, got involved with sound, um, and, uh, county players, uh, did 10 shows of county players before they had any in-house sound. We actually brought

Justin: (09:05)
Back then you had the AV cart with the giant TV on time.

Bill: (09:08)
Well, that was the AVS roll around. That was the AV squad, but, uh, you know, that was, that was for the nerds. Uh, but me, uh, you know, uh, you know, we did a lot of, uh, a lot of work in the, the drama clubs there, uh, at, uh, at, at, uh, Ketchum high school at makin rhyme and WAER junior high. And then when I was in high school, uh, I actually was, uh, hired as the technical director at WAER junior high. So I was gonna paycheck while I was in high school from the, from the WAER central school district. It's a statute of limitations over for that now I cool. Yeah,

Stephen J: (09:34)
It's a problem. Did that project

Bill: (09:36)
Go out to bid? Uh, well, that's, uh, you know, this is before procurement policies existed back in those days. Right. But, but yeah, so that's how I got into, uh, uh, sound live sound, which became, uh, DJing, because back then, uh, you had the guys that had the vinyl right, right on the records. And, uh, uh, I got into it with CDs when CDs first came out. So, uh, we were kind of, uh, you know, one of the first D DJs back then and, uh, uh, now everything's digital and computerized, but, uh, still to this day, uh, still doing the gigs. So it's,

Stephen J: (10:03)
And I mean, your company yeah. Has how many employees now?

Bill: (10:07)
Well, we have, uh, I like to say we have a number of teams, uh, because it depends on the size of the, uh, the gig. So we have two or three teams that can go out. Uh, and, you know, in addition to me and my, my team, uh, to do, uh, a number of events, uh, and we're right now expanded to, uh, west Chester, lower west Chester, uh, into the Bronx, um, uh, some of the, uh, large venues down there, uh, we've been doing, uh, weddings for folks that, uh, had to reschedule multiple times. And, uh, now finally can have the reception

Stephen J: (10:36)
You're gonna to school. Yep. You're working for the school district to a degree. Yeah. Yeah. You're doing the firehouse gig. Now you started that with 16, yes.

Bill: (10:43)
16 Houston. Uh, and that, that was 29 years ago now.

Justin: (10:48)
And how'd you get involved at 16 in the fire? Did you, did you have someone that you knew that got you into that, or

Bill: (10:52)
What led you into that? My uncle was a, um, active member of w fire department, ATW Johnson. And, uh, he, uh, uh, my godfather, he, I remember, you know, being at his house was my aunt and uncle and, uh, the Altron oh yeah. The big box. Every Monday night, it would go off. And, uh, that kind of peaked my interest cuz the fire whistle would go off when the Ektron went off, it's kind of cool, you know, and then sometimes the Altron would go off and the fire truck would drive by. Right. And I was like, this is kind of cool. And how do I get involved? So, um, uh, living in Houston, bill, um, you know, on the recent state, uh, since, uh, um, I was six or seven years old, uh, Houston bill firehouse was a block down the road. So, uh, just started riding my bike down there and uh, uh, got involved and still there now, uh, all these years later,

Stephen J: (11:35)
It's another parallel where you grew up and I grew up how close we were to firehouses and that, that just you're in awe every time they, that fire whistle went off, I always spoke, they went by my

Bill: (11:44)
House. Yeah. And you were just around the corner also.

Stephen J: (11:46)
Yeah. It's crazy. So you, you joined at 16 mm-hmm and that's called the junior firefighter, right? Yes.

Bill: (11:51)
Uh, now, uh, we have an Explorer program where we can actually, uh, bring, uh, kids in at 14, 15 that's in the Explorer program and then get them, uh, hopefully to stick around, uh, to 16, 17, and then 18, you can become a full fledged active firefighter. We've actually had two chief officers in our firehouse that started out as explorers and worked their way all the way up to the top. Now they're both career fire writers with Arlington. That's

Justin: (12:14)
Great. That's been a theme on this podcast that, yeah, I, I was just gonna say a few people we've interviewed and some of the episodes we've had we've, we've talked about how, when you can get involved that young mm-hmm and get that jumpstart, it, it really creates an exponential growth in your ability to do that job when you're in it so early, especially have all that time.

Bill: (12:31)
Now, now I'll tell you, uh, challenges now where we are competing against social media. We are competing against, uh, you know, uh, gaming, you know, gaming, right, right. People that don't wanna any, you know, go venture outside their, their house, uh, to do anything, you know, the, the, the mantra of joining an organization is kind of, uh, you know, not, uh, as popular as it was previously. So we have basically go out there and, and try to attract these, uh, individuals as young as possible. Right. We have a boy scout troop now that we've chartered at our firehouse where they can start at 11 as a, uh, uh, as a boy scout. And then what we hope to do is peak their interest. While they meet at the firehouse, they'll join the Explorer program, then become a junior firefighter and then continue on from there. And our, our real hope is not to be a career volunteer. We want to provide them with the education and tools, just like you and I, we took every single class there was back then. We want them to have those opportunities as a volunteer and set themselves up for success, possibly in a career.

Stephen J: (13:27)
Well, I think we talked with chief Harold Ramsey, uh, in one of the podcasts and I, he started a junior fire program, firefighter program up at red hook. And the big thing for me, wasn't just the firehouse and keeping the guys in the fire, especially young people. It's the community. Mm-hmm, , you know? Yeah. You're married now you have kids. Yeah. And you chose to stay in your community. Mm-hmm and one of the reasons I'm gonna throw it out there is probably because of Ville,

Bill: (13:50)
Firehouse. Yeah. And, uh, my wife always, uh, you know, uh, jokes with me and says, you, you gave me like a postage stamp, uh, boundaries to buy a house in because you had to be in the fire district and you had to be in the town district , you know, as well, uh, because of, uh, my, my political, uh, uh, involvement. So, uh, we really, uh, believe that involvement within the organization is taking pride and ownership in our community. Yeah. And that's, that's important. And I don't think it's as, uh, uh, as viewed, uh, or, or focused on as much as it has been in previous decades now, you know, everyone's kind of transient now, right? Yep. Everybody's trying to, you know, just get, get to, uh, uh, a job that pays well and then move on to the next one and then move on to geographic location. And I think, uh, we need to focus on keeping, uh, people in our communities that really have, uh, a vested interest in

Stephen J: (14:45)
Our communities. Has there been any thought with this whole work from home era we're in cuz of COVID those, a lot of people don't volunteer cuz they don't have the time. Right. They don't work in the community. They, they travel whether to a city or a few towns over now we have them captured, they're working at a home mm-hmm , I'm wondering if there's any, you know, thought of reaching out to these people and saying, Hey, now that you're home. Yeah. Your home during the day, which is always hurting for volunteers. Sure. Is there a way we can reach out to them? I mean, it's, it's an idea maybe that has to be

Bill: (15:13)
Explored. That's a good point. Uh, I think, uh, with COVID, uh, you know, we've, we've been in a different scenario for the past 18 plus months. Um, and uh, I think we do need to, uh, uh, explore, uh, those that are gonna be permanent at home, uh, employees, uh, right now we've kind of viewed it as, okay. You're working from home temporary early till we get through COVID and then you're gonna go back to the city. A lot of folks that, uh, are, uh, working in New York city now don't have to commute to New York city. So perhaps we can use them as a resource, uh, for our

Stephen J: (15:41)
Community. We're hearing some, uh, excellent soundtracks from the renegades. Then Rick Zolder playing out there. Is that baby shark?

Bill: (15:48)
Yeah, I think it was, yeah. I hear that all day at my house. We are

Stephen J: (15:51)
Here, live at Dutch, a stadium for this broadcast

Bill: (15:54)
Right now. Are we still on the air? Are we still, how do you say that? And people still hear us in the podcast world. I is, are we still on the stream? We're on the stream. We are streaming. Yeah. You know, I'm not used to this still going live. Yeah. So on radio, some of the differences, you know, we have hard breaks, right. So we can sit here and have a conversation and then, you know, we're watching a quarter hour, right. We gotta maintain the quarter hour. We gotta come into that break right here. We could just sit here all night. we don't

Stephen J: (16:18)
Do all night long. Well, I'll tell you what we we're usually sponsored by Hyde park brewery. S shout out to the Hyde park brewing company. Uh, unfortunately you can't bring in outside alcohol. Wow. So, uh, we're, we're drinking beverages provided by the Hudson valley Renegade. So thank you very much, but if they keep 'em flowing, we'll keep it going. Right. I

Bill: (16:35)
Remember one, one time at K Fest here. Uh, you know, we used to have K Fest. I wanna bring it back. I mean, that, that was awesome. That was a,

Stephen J: (16:42)
We gotta bring it back. One of that was too far. I'm

Bill: (16:44)
Sorry. One of the challenges with those types of concerts nowadays is artists don't really need those anymore because they have other platforms to promote their music. Right. So it's harder to get artists to come out and do those shows. But I remember speaking of, uh, sponsorships, you know, I walked out on stage at K Fest and I had like a, a cos light in my hand. Right. And bud light was the sponsor. Oh boy.

Stephen J: (17:02)
Oops.

Bill: (17:03)
That's. And, and that's like, you get called in the office at the radio stage. And what are you thinking? You know,

Stephen J: (17:08)
I was thinking I was thirsty, you know,

Bill: (17:10)
You know, the politics of the sponsorship.

Stephen J: (17:11)
Right. Well, that's why we, we sure HDE park brewing company would give them the shout out. Cause they're very, very good to us. They're very good to all first

Bill: (17:17)
Responders. First date with my wife at, uh, Hyde park. Was it really? Yes, it was back in 2012. So there's some magic there, there is magic. There. There certainly is. Of course,

Stephen J: (17:26)
Right. We call it the, uh, Lawndale.

Bill: (17:29)
Magic's my

Stephen J: (17:30)
Wife nickname. It is now. Hello.

Bill: (17:34)
I can guarantee you. She's not watching this live, but she will hear about it. I'm sure.

Stephen J: (17:37)
Well, it will be recorded. It will be an episode and we make sure we forward the link and that's not me hitting the applause button. They're actually you thank you ladies and gentlemen, full of people

Bill: (17:46)
Sharing. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Appreciate the comedy. Yeah.

Stephen J: (17:50)
Well, we're, we're live here at touch the stadium. If you come into the stadium, you're here now. Uh, if you see Carl, Carl's helping us out today, he's down below, there's a, a sandwich board with some information on how to download the podcast, but he's got stickers. So make sure you Popeye, uh, you can wave to us, you know, we're right at the suite number five here, which, uh, I guess if you looked at the PA booth or to the right, you're staring up the PA booth booth to the right. That's a

Bill: (18:13)
Good way to put to the, of the booth. I'm a season ticket holder here. Um, and I'm, you know, watching people sit in my seats down there first row behind the catcher. I'm not sure how I feel.

Stephen J: (18:21)
I don't know. Maybe we can pipe into the PA now to here, Justin, maybe make that happen.

Bill: (18:27)
You think will get of up the mic? No, I think so. No,

Stephen J: (18:31)
I don't know. Who's harder to get a mic out of, uh, well, yeah, mark ERO,

Bill: (18:34)
Rick OLS and, and uh, you know, we have, uh, uh, we have been in some events together where, uh, I'm on the mic. Yep. You've actually, uh, had me host a few events, uh, for organizations you've been involved with. And you know, I don't like to give the mic up either. I know. Well,

Stephen J: (18:46)
Listen, it's the platform. That's why we're here. You got just the, the civilian producer, look at him. He looks beautiful for those people who get to see this. Are you on camera? Oh yeah. He's on we're on camera.

Bill: (18:55)
Yeah. More importantly are my feet on camera because uh, yeah. Oh yeah. That's yeah, yeah. That is unfortunate. Yep. Sorry.

Stephen J: (19:01)
zoom in pan up. I don't know. No, it's fine. We're sitting here live at Dutch state and we're talking to bill be from K 1 0 4, but also, you know, chief at Houston bill for quite some time you rose through the ranks there. Yeah. Um, and it actually ended up turning into another gig. Mm, yes it did. Where you're currently working.

Bill: (19:20)
Yes. Yes. So, uh, in Houston bill as a volunteer, um, I, uh, was actually one of the youngest fire chiefs in Duches county, uh, uh, history, uh, at age 24, I was actually fire chief of Houston Villa the T 11, 2001. Uh, and I remember that day, um, making sure that our members came to the firehouse and stayed at the firehouse and didn't, uh, run down to the city because I was concerned about, you know, something that could happen here in du county. And if folks weren't here focused on our own county at that moment, uh, we could have had, uh, some real issues. So that was 20 years ago. Uh, I was chief there, uh, in 2001 and 2002, uh, and, uh, in, uh, 2003 became the president of the fire company and held that position until 2019 then got back into the chief officer, uh, rolls. Um, right now I'm, I'm an elected assistant chief, but I'm because of my county job. My title is district captain. Uh, just so there's no potential conflict. This, this

Stephen J: (20:17)
Business card is long. Yeah. Yeah.

Bill: (20:19)
So, um, but the county position, um, uh, became a reality in 2014, um, basically, uh, an opportunity presented itself for me to, uh, uh, start a career in emergency manage and, um, emergency management, uh, is basically the umbrella over all the emergency services and looking at things from 30,000 feet. So as the county emergency manager, uh, I've been in this role now since, uh, 2014 and, uh, seven and a half years later, uh, this past Friday, I was out with FEMA, uh, here in DUS county, uh, looking at some of the, uh, uh, impacts of, uh, the storm that we recently, uh, uh, experienced the remnants of hurricane I, uh, east Fishkill, uh, lost a bridge. Yeah. Calling lost a bridge. Uh, so we we've been, uh, actively trying to, uh, get federal assistance, uh, for, for the, uh, impacts of that storm. So that's, that's my full-time career. So when I leave work, you know, I go to my volunteer, uh, hobby, uh, in the fire service, which is very much, uh, uh, comparable as a, as a job too.

Justin: (21:20)
So yeah, it was a unique storm too, for us up here, I think because we, we had all that rain mm-hmm without the hurricane wind, right. That, that we were expecting. And it seemed very calm. There wasn't a lot, a lot of wind blowing around, but it just rained and rained and rain, and it just didn't

Stephen J: (21:35)
Stop. It

Bill: (21:36)
Was a, it was a challenge because when the actual storm came through, we didn't necessarily see the impacts until after, you know, within 24 hours after is when all the runoff, right. When, until all those tributaries and reeks and started, uh, you know, washing out, uh, uh, roadways and, and bridges. So, uh, we're lucky though, we didn't lose, uh, anyone. Uh, we had no casualties and that's what matters

Stephen J: (21:57)
The most. Yeah. Uh, unfortunately Connecticut state police, uh, lost to Sergeant ball. Really. Yeah. Uh, and, and he's Dutchess county. Uh, I wasn't aware of that. He's from John, Jay went to John Jay school and he's Fishkill, uh, Mari college grad. Really, his brother was a New York state trooper who I know. Um, and, and unfortunately in that horrific storm for, for Connecticut, uh, he was washed away in patrol. So was

Bill: (22:21)
He the, uh, officer that was, uh, deploying a, a Marine unit or involved with it?

Stephen J: (22:25)
No, that's, that's the state trooper up north. Okay. Uh, in, in New York, this was the Connecticut state trooper, unfortunately, uh, that it's tragic either way. It, it, yeah, very tragic, but close to home. Uh, unfortunately, so we, we're always thinking about those guys, especially on nine 11 here today, you know, we're remembering 20 years ago and you know, I, I put on my personal Facebook, you know, let's roll. Yes. And that's the attitude. I think we need to take out nine 11 mm-hmm and we, we need to come together once again and let's roll. Let's roll this community forward. Mm-hmm , let's remember, but let's not forget, but let's remember how September 12th was. That's right.

Bill: (22:58)
That's right.

Stephen J: (22:59)
And we remember 11 we're forgetting 12 nowadays,

Bill: (23:03)
Especially nowadays. I mean, we need to come together as a country, uh, a nation, a state, a community, uh, never, uh, in my opinion, have we ever been more divided and I mean, we can blame, uh, we can blame a lot of things for the division. I mean, social media, uh, uh, is, you know, you know, there are positive aspects to social media. Right. But I could, I could tell you that many of the narratives that, uh, exist on social media, I would consider, uh, divisive. Yeah. And, and we need to remember put things in perspective, right. Remember how we were on September 11th, suffering together and on September 12th coming back. That's absolutely right.

Justin: (23:37)
I'll never forget how many cars had flags on it. Mm-hmm, almost those weeks after September 11th. Uh, it, it really was a time of, of, uh, probably the strongest unity that I've seen in my

Stephen J: (23:48)
Life. Oh, mine. Well in this country. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, I think we can take a break here real quick. Uh we'll we'll get back bill. We'll get you, uh, some hydration here. Sure. Going and, uh, you know, for those who are watching, listening, we appreciate you and we'll be right back. Even Jay, good Lieutenant back with Justin, the civilian

Justin: (24:05)
Producer, Hey, we are back live here at Duche stadium

Stephen J: (24:08)
And we got bill the real deal deal here. Hey, I like that. Remember

Bill: (24:12)
That's now that we have a studio audience in here,

Stephen J: (24:14)
Uh, suite number five here, live at Duche stadium.

Justin: (24:17)
yeah. We've had to shuffle things around a little bit, but yeah. We have a live audience now. Right. I love in the room with us. Pretty

Stephen J: (24:22)
Exciting live. Yeah. You know, that's what firefighters and police officers do is adapt and overcome. Of course, we're presented with a situation mm-hmm, where we have to, you know, move around a little bit. That's okay. Hey, and, and we we're able to do that, and now we're gonna have people walking through, which is fine. Hey, come on. We welcome. It's all heroes,

Bill: (24:38)
Right? Speaking of heroes, look at this guy.

Stephen J: (24:40)
No, no, no, not the hero you eat.

Bill: (24:42)
that's sound depressive right there. He's he's my hero hero.

Stephen J: (24:46)
everyone has a hero Sal and you're somebody's Oh, DJ Sal back in the day. Was, did he work for you ever? Yes,

Bill: (24:55)
Of course he did. For many years. Sal was, uh, I know Sal was a DJ. Yes, he was. Yeah. You didn't know that? No, I didn't know that Sal, how many years? Probably five or six. More than that, right? Yeah. And we, we did, uh, probably, and he is not kidding. Probably close to 10. We did, uh, the nightclub and bar circuit back when people used to go out to nightclubs and bars

Stephen J: (25:12)
Lock Cantina. Right. Sal . We won't talk about that. They turned that place down after you went there. Yeah. It's

Bill: (25:18)
Gone now actually, uh, a number of those places are no longer exist and, uh, you know, I'm kidding. But people actually did go out to places back in the day. People used to actually socialize in person. Right.

Stephen J: (25:29)
It it's been amazing to watch that transformation of COVID hit. And now literally there's no socialization anymore. It's no, through the social media. Yeah. Uh, we'll do a meetup group and everyone will get together, but let's not talk to each other in

Bill: (25:41)
Person. And listen, we're kind of hypocrites here because that's what we're doing right now, Steve. Well,

Stephen J: (25:45)
Yeah, but we're doing it live, right. We're doing it

Bill: (25:47)
Live for first live broadcast.

Justin: (25:49)
Yeah. The very first live broadcast. And

Bill: (25:51)
We got you. You didn't tell me this, you know, ah, I thought you were gonna edit this thing up, you know, tighten it up a little bit.

Stephen J: (25:56)
Well, we're gonna edit it for the podcast episode, whatever it'll be. But right

Bill: (26:00)
Now, for all these viewers, anything can happen.

Stephen J: (26:03)
Chris Byer, vice president, and puts valley guns and hoses walking through the studio. Believe

Justin: (26:07)
The cameras do not catch the people coming through the door, sneaking in. Oh, good.

Bill: (26:11)
Okay, perfect. We won't ever mention them again.

Stephen J: (26:13)
We can just make up, who's

Justin: (26:14)
Coming in on profile of my head, which I'm sure everyone is enjoying.

Bill: (26:18)
I'm enjoying my legs. Now. Finally, outta the video, your feet

Justin: (26:21)
Are okay. Good. But your legs are

Bill: (26:23)
Exposed. Well, that's unfortunate.

Stephen J: (26:27)
Well, well, there's other exposures that could happen, but we're live here. So we're gonna keep it clean. That's right. Uh, for an update, everyone, the renegades are currently winning three to nothing. Oh

Bill: (26:36)
Really? Yes. I saw that home run,

Stephen J: (26:38)
Uh, you know, it's I was hoping it was gonna go through those heart hands. So somebody was gonna win. Has

Bill: (26:41)
Hadn't done that yet? I don't know. No,

Stephen J: (26:43)
it could happen. I'm still waiting for a baseball to be hit back here and bounce off the glass will bounce, bounce off the back of my head.

Bill: (26:51)
Oh, whatever happens. It's live guys. You just go with it. You know

Stephen J: (26:55)
. If I go down, you guys just keep going. Don't worry about me. I just know that that button does the music. Yep. That's I'll rely on Sal to come save the day. Good.

Bill: (27:03)
Oh my goodness. I

Stephen J: (27:03)
Don't know how that would end. We're bringing them in well, since the break, we, we got food brought in here. Yes. Courtesy of Hudson valley guns and hoses and chip Burillo. Thank you, chip. Thank you, chip. We appreciate that. And we're gonna talk to a bunch of the guys from guns and hoses, uh, a near and dear charity. That's here in the Hudson valley, uh, for firefighters and police officers and first responders. But let's get back to Mr. Bill Beal. Hmm. So now we're, we're working in the fire service. We're working in DUS county working on the radio. Yeah. Yeah. What, what else are we doing in the community? All at the

Bill: (27:31)
Same time, by the way,

Stephen J: (27:32)
Because I don't wanna get into politics. Yeah. Right, right. But the job of a Councilman is thankless. You're bringing it up aren't you? Well, I'm not, we're not gonna go political party stuff, but we're gonna talk about that community service. Yeah. Uh, cause I think it's important. I think course, people need to

Bill: (27:44)
Understand that. So, uh, after I was fire chief, um, uh, 20 years ago now I've, you know, feel old, but uh, my father was a county legislator and uh, he represented, uh, the town of Ture portion of it district 14, which has changed in boundaries since then. But, uh, he was involved with, uh, a number of high profile projects. One of them being this stadium right here and, uh, uh, he was a supporter of the stadium and, uh, helped to, uh, get it through. Uh, and here we are sitting in the stadium today. Uh, but his involvement in politics kind of got me into it because he would drag me along to all the fundraisers and events and election night. Right. And waiting for the results to come in. And, uh, my opportunity came, uh, in, uh, 2005 when, uh, a position was open on the town council and the town of WAER, uh, and, uh, and Iran, uh, you know, I, I gave it my all, uh, but unfortunately I ended in a tie.

Bill: (28:36)
And when you ended a tie in town, government, uh, uh, the town board determines who's gonna fill that term or that, that year until the next year that they can have a runoff. Now, the problem in my town is their two year terms. Right? So in 2005, I ended up in a tie after 93 days of recounts, right. Uh, the town board appointed my opponent to remain. He was the incumbent, right. And then I had to run against him in 2006 and I won. The problem is I had to run again in 2000 for the full term. So five, six, and seven, then I had to run in oh 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, uh, 19. And then again, this year, uh, 2021. So I've been on the town board for, uh, 15 years. Uh, and, uh,

Stephen J: (29:20)
They're cheering for you. They're cheering for that.

Bill: (29:21)
Congratulations. Thank you all for your recognition for my service on the town board, but,

Stephen J: (29:25)
Uh, holy smokes. But you

Bill: (29:27)
Know, I continue to, uh, to do that as well. And, uh, I can tell you that, uh, being out in the community from a grassroots perspective, it doesn't get any better than being on the town level or the village level, right. You're out there, you're affecting people's, uh, every day with the decisions you make, right? The, uh, elected officials at the, the county and state level may not affect people's every day. But yeah, you know, we're talking about plowing roads and building roads and filling potholes, right. Things that people care about. Uh, and I appreciate, uh, uh, being able to make a difference in that way. Well,

Stephen J: (29:56)
I think people don't realize how much involvement in their personal lives that the local go of it has. Yeah. Yeah. You know, do I need a permit to resell my driveway? Exactly. Do I need a variance if I wanna put a pool in, like, people don't understand that. Yeah. It drives me crazy when people say only vote in presidential. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the president's involvement in your everyday life is so minuscule compared to what your town

Bill: (30:15)
Councilman is. Exactly. And, and, you know, from the town perspective, uh, the answer is no, you don't need a permit to, uh, seal your drive

Stephen J: (30:21)
That way my town. Okay. Just so you know, it's not where

Bill: (30:22)
I live and no, there's no setbacks on, uh, offenses in my town. Okay. So, uh,

Stephen J: (30:27)
, that's the town Ofer in Duches county, New York. That's my right. Very clear. so,

Justin: (30:32)
Well, you brought up because these are the things that affect homeowners and, and, and people live in a community. Uh, a lot of the things that you get frustrated with, like permits and things like the are local issues that are usually set forth by local politicians. Right. So it's important to be aware of what's going on in that local

Stephen J: (30:47)
Landscape. Yeah. And if anybody had a question, whether every vote counts your tie, I think, uh, answers that.

Bill: (30:52)
Yeah. Even on a, you know, it's a small, local race, right. And, uh, you're talking 500 and, uh, 39 votes on each side. Right. So every vote does count and we've seen it across the county where it comes down to one or two votes, even on the county level. So every vote counts you should get out there and definitely, uh, be involved and participate.

Stephen J: (31:11)
So now you're running for office, you're playing fire chief. Yeah. Yeah. You have a real job. Yes. Finally, a real job. And what was that real job you were doing at that time?

Bill: (31:20)
When I, when I first ran, yeah. Well, I was, well, I guess 2005, 2005, I was in the DJ business, you know, that was back when the clubs were, were hopping. Right. So, uh, I had the flexibility of working in nightclubs and bars and being around all day and not having to worry about a traditional job, you know, but now you have to, it's more balance and, and all the things that I do, uh, uh, it's, it's really, uh, minor compared to the real important things in life, which are my wife and kids now. Yeah. So trying to balance all these, uh, all these variables gets more challenging by the year,

Stephen J: (31:57)
But you have enlightened your load at all. You just keep adding, adding on you just keep adding on

Bill: (32:02)
. Yeah. I mean, I, I need to, I'll be honest with you and I'll go on record here on the podcast. Uh, I need to, uh, make some decisions very soon, uh, on how to, uh, uh, you know, free up some time because, uh, you know, I was out at soccer today with my, uh, my soon to be three year old, you know, running around out there. And those are the types of things I want to have the free time to do, uh, during the week.

Stephen J: (32:23)
So at some point in your career, you end up on the local radio station, which is not just local radio stations. It's actually a pretty large, uh, syndicate for what you guys are doing. Right. I mean, you go, yeah. So

Bill: (32:33)
We, uh, we are, uh, there's, there's three, uh, 50,000 wat radio stations here in the Hudson valley. Uh, we are one of the three. Um, we are the most listened to, uh, radio station in the Hudson valley, uh, in the key demographics and the most listened to morning show. So, uh, uh, my involvement in radio, uh, kind of, uh, came from my DJ involvement, uh, you know, was working in, uh, at the Matt Hatter one night. And, uh, the radio station was there. They said, Hey, you know, you should, you should join our team. And, uh, uh, that's where that began. Uh, uh, but part-time, and then, uh, uh, you know, worked its way to full-time for a number of years now. Uh, I'm considered part-time cause I just do one day part the morning show Monday through Friday. Uh, but it's been 19 years, uh, that I've been in there and, and in radio that's a long time. Most people don't last that long in radio, but I've been fortunate to be, uh, uh, on a, on a couple different morning shows.

Stephen J: (33:27)
That's good. You've had different hosts with you. Yeah. Yeah.

Bill: (33:29)
The, uh, the Woodman is the, is the host I joined with originally. He exited for a few years, Chris Marino, who's now a boss at iHeart, uh, uh, here in the Hudson valley. Uh, I think he's on w RWD now, but I was paired up with him for three years. And then when he exited and wood came back, I'm back with wood to what I call version 2.0 in the morning show, but I've been through five different cohos, female co-hosts and a lot of different staff that have come and gone, but I've been blessed to be one of the staples on that show. And, uh, I do the news. So, um, you know, talk about local. Uh, I believe our successes, uh, from being hyper local, right? A lot of radio stations, uh, are, are canned up, as we say in the business, right? They're recorded. They're voice tracked. They're not live. Uh, we are live and, uh, uh, local news is, is the key in my opinion, to being hyperlocal in the morning. So folks know what's going on. And that's the big challenge that we've, we've seen, uh, with, with these, uh, different types of media disappearing.

Stephen J: (34:32)
Now you started in the fire service with a kid mm-hmm . Was that your goal to be a fulltime firefighter? What was your goal? Because you're, you're all over the place. I you're is this guy. Yeah. You're working for the county. Yeah. You're working for the radio station. You're volunteer fire, chief president commissioner, whatever you're serving now. Never not yet. No, your wife is benefit. My wife is a

Bill: (34:50)
Commissioner. You see that? So she's finishing to the family, but, uh, yeah, she's a police, well, retired police officer. Now my wife, uh, who, uh, we believed would be of value to the fire department because, uh, she's a female and we needed, in my opinion, an administrative person who was a female, uh, in the fire department, uh, who came from a different discipline and had a different perspective because as you know, Steve, we've been in the fire department before and yep. There's a lot of tunnel vision sometimes. So she having a background in, uh, law enforcement and finance, uh, has been of great value. Uh, I believe she's gonna have 10 years, uh, as, as commissioners, she'll be, uh, retiring, uh, at the end of this year because we have two kids now. So it's kind of tough to balance the meetings, but, but yeah, so my goal, uh, has been, uh, uh, kind of a fluid, uh, situation throughout the years, right. Being in the volunteer fire service. Yes. I took the F D N Y test before nine 11. Right. Um, I chose not to take that, uh, opportunity. I scored well, but chose not to take that opportunity. Friends of mine that took the test with me that day yep. Were on the job, uh, for September 11th and after September 11th. Friends of ours

Stephen J: (35:55)
To this day. Yeah.

Bill: (35:56)
Yes. Correct. Uh, so actually some have retired already. That's how long ago that

Stephen J: (36:00)
Was. Yes. Right. Wow. Move moving south.

Bill: (36:02)
Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, that opportunity was there, um, being a career firefighter here in DUS county was not something that I had, uh, specifically focused on. However, I encourage, uh, members of our department to take those tests. Right. And the more tests you, uh, I believe, uh, the more experience you get and getting the mindset of a civil service test, right? This, this

Stephen J: (36:22)
Is another theme on the podcast. We've had take those tests, take, take the test because you never know what

Bill: (36:27)
Opportunities are gonna be open. Right. And it could be a year or two down a road when you get that letter, that canvas letter. Right. And you could be in a situation where you, you can take that opportunity. So for folks that are watching the podcast cast, uh, that maybe have kids that are just coming up, uh, have them take those tests, even if they don't wanna do that job, because it could be an option down road.

Stephen J: (36:45)
I just wanna add that we are live on Facebook. If you have a question or you have a comment, we're watching Justin paying attention. I got the phone here. Uh, we, we see the likes and the loves and the love. Thank you so much. We appreciate that. We're getting loves. We got some loves lot. Love. Someone wants your number, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna delete that one. You're deleting the loves. We need everyone. Just the one that wants your number. Oh, wait. What's what's what's the morning show number.

Bill: (37:07)
Give that up. My wife is watching now. So, um, gotta

Stephen J: (37:10)
Be careful lose her. No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't trust me. I don't even have to. She's trying to lose the number. I got both kids

Bill: (37:16)
Right now. You're hanging out with her very on, on

Stephen J: (37:19)
A podcast. It's a lot of fun, right? I'm, I'm missing my drink. I think they took it when they, uh, rec canvas this, uh, podcast. But, uh, yeah, I got somebody just gave chip, gave me a wave. He's on it. Well, chip

Bill: (37:30)
Did this. He really didn't have

Stephen J: (37:31)
That in mind. Little cam. Yeah. But that's all right.

Bill: (37:33)
The Poland spring, wasn't really the avenue he was going, but

Stephen J: (37:35)
That's okay. We'll take a break soon and we'll fix it.

Bill: (37:39)
So you guys have been doing this podcast for two months now. Um, I've watched back a number of the episodes to see kind of how it's evolved, but let me ask you this. I'm gonna, oh,

Stephen J: (37:47)
Oh, we're flipping the script. I love this. Okay.

Bill: (37:49)
All right. I'm gonna flip the script right now because why, uh, or what was your motivation to start a podcast?

Stephen J: (37:55)
So, bill, if you listen to all the episodes, we spoke about this in the veryt, but let's go back to it. I've seen every episode that that's good. Very good. Disclaimer. There it is. So, so the motivation for this podcast is that men and women in law enforcement and the fire service and EMS do amazing things every day when they're working mm-hmm , then there was this humanizing, the badge idea that came around and we saw these videos of firefighters and police officer in uniform, dancing and singing and lip sinking and all this stuff. And I said, that's not humanizing the badge. Right, right. What these guys and girls do when they're not working, whether it's coaches sports, start a business, that's humanizing the badge, right. That's how these people are heroes on and off the job. And I, and I, you know, I think it was a dinner. Yep. I was traveling and I came back and I spoke to Justin and I said, Hey, how about this idea? We get these men and women to come on and speak with us. Cuz no, you know, firefighters, cops, they don't wanna tell their story. Right. Right. We're very humble people for the most part. For the most

Bill: (38:50)
Part, we, we were talking off the air actually about this because I I've had many fire fighters and police officers come on the air with me live on the radio. Right. Yep. And it's sometimes a challenge to interview because just, I think the way many are wired, you know, as introverts or uh, humble about right.

Stephen J: (39:06)
What they do. So it was this media, this podcast idea that says, let's bring 'em in and let's exploit what they do for their community. What they, when the badge is in their locker. Okay. And that idea has really taken off. I mean, I am still amazed and I just, we talk about it, like the views, we're getting the downloads, we're getting the follows, we're getting the sponsorship opportunities. Yep. We're being contacted by publicists now of people that wanna show their story and, and are it's really, actually not even their story. It's Hey, this other guy I know. Right. And we're sitting down and we've had some and guests mm-hmm um, most of our podcasts are recorded. Mm-hmm so we have a bunch dialed in. That'll be released monthly. Sure. Uh, and we do four episodes a month. We release 'em all at once because I found that most firefighters and cops binge listen to podcasts, especially working crazy hours. Yeah. So that's why we went with that. Yeah. Um, and it it's been a huge success bill. I gotta be honest, shocking. Mm-hmm absolutely shocking that these people are listening to Justin it and, and, and myself talking to our different guests. Right. Who are amazing.

Justin: (40:03)
Yeah. And that, that, I think that's what really sets it apart is the guests are amazing. They're doing incredible. Yeah. Things, uh, they're doing heroic things. Mm-hmm even when they're not working, uh, you know, we've heard some, just absolutely stunning stories or

Stephen J: (40:16)
Over the last, and we're only talking to people for 40 minutes at, at most. And the stories that we're getting from them. We could probably have a weeks' long podcast with some of these guys really. And every time, every single time, uh, we release a podcast and it starts getting those views and those downloads, the guests will call me or text me and say, Hey man, I got people texting me that didn't know my story. Or, you know, we got people, my business is now getting, getting hired. No one knew I did this. So that was the whole idea. And, and so far so good. Quite honestly. And

Justin: (40:45)
I think it's been a learning experience too. I know for, for you both. Yeah. I mean, I've learned things, I'm sure Steve, oh yeah. We've talked about this. Like some of the things that, and concepts that have been discussed, uh, are either foreign or unfamiliar. Right. And then you hear it and you're like, oh, oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Of course that's a, that's a great project or

Bill: (41:00)
Whatever it may be. I think you guys have something that, uh, not everyone has. I mean, there's, you know, millions of podcasts out there, right. There's, there's everybody wants to be, uh, in some way shape or form heard. Right. But I think you've identified a niche that, um, you know, folks that are in the game and outside of the game, right. What we do, what do, uh, from a law enforcement standpoint, my involvement with emergency management and the fire department, there's folks out there that are looking for commonalities, right. They're looking to identify with someone who has a story and I think that's where you guys are gonna be very successful with this.

Stephen J: (41:32)
I appreciate that. We appreciate you being here because you know, this is a, is a crazy day Wappinger does an amazing nine 11 ceremony. Yeah.

Bill: (41:39)
Uh, you know, so taking your time to come here and do this with us, it's just cool, man. I appreciate it. Yeah. I gotta get a plug in for that. I mean this morning, uh, we continued the tradition in the town of Wappinger, uh, of conducting our, uh, September 11th ceremony, uh, have a, uh, we're lucky to have a park, uh, that is named for Sergeant Marcy Palmer, who was the first, uh, soldier to die in the war on terror from DUS county. He was from the town of Wappinger. Uh, and, uh, we've been blessed to, uh, have a, uh, 2,700 pound, 13 foot section of steel from, uh, the north tower, uh, as part of that, uh, Memorial at route nine and old hope wall road. So each year we have built upon that particular Memorial and, uh, conducted a service, which we did today.

Bill: (42:23)
So, uh, on a Saturday I was just blown away by the number of people and, uh, that attended and brought their kids because it's so important, uh, that, uh, you know, we, we, we understand, uh, the significance of, uh, that dark day, 20 years ago, uh, today. Uh, and, and it's amazing how many, uh, volunteer firefighters in my department who weren't even born yet. Oh yeah. And we say, you need to go to this, you know, this was the largest loss of firefighters and one day, 343 members, uh, passed that day. And then counting now to mention the, uh, 250 plus that have died from nine 11, uh, related illnesses since then. And unfortunately that number's, uh, going to surpass the 343. And then on the police side, you know, you had 23 N Y P D officers. I think it was 38 port authority, police officers, 250, uh, N Y P D police officers, uh, have now died from 9 0 11 related illnesses, 10 times the number of police officers that died on this day 20 years ago. Wow.

Stephen J: (43:20)
Yeah. It's, it's something that, you know, we talk about often I is making sure that firefighters and police officers get the care they deserve. Yes. Uh, and, and anybody that was down there, uh, who has been exposed to that, police make sure that you're getting the care. Please remember those guys. Mm-hmm , you know, cuz they're still they're heroes, they're heroes that day they're heroes throughout their lives. Yes. Uh, make sure that we we're reaching out and making sure they're okay. Cuz that's that's a hell of a battle they're fighting. Yes. Um, David Minna says hello and, and his buddy Mark Palmer. He's giving him a shout out. He always

Bill: (43:49)
Remember mark and Dave, thanks for your support on the Memorial. You've been instrumental and we greatly appreciate it.

Stephen J: (43:54)
So we're, we're talking, Justin got a guy here once again, who started his career at 16 years old in the volunteer fire service. no, it's a common theme because I'll tell you the younger guys, uh, who got involved in the fire service that we've had here mm-hmm on this podcast is probably more than half. Yeah. More than half the people that have now done extraordinary things in their lives, on and off the job mm-hmm, started in that public service young. Yeah. And I think that's really important. You guys have the Explorer program. I know the Dutchess county Sheriff's office. We had Alonzo Montana come in and talk about their Explorer program there, um, and different firehouses with the 16 year old starting that's so important. So if you know, a young person get 'em away from their phone, get 'em off the computer, outta the video games, get 'em into one of these programs, because it is just enlightening to me to watch these young people flourish.

Justin: (44:39)
Right. And we see the impact of the exposure. Just, just to just alone, like you just said, you know, you, you, you went because your father was there, you got to see these things. I know we've had other guests, uh, Harold was talking about how some, some of the, the, the firefighters kids would come to the fire station. Yeah. They see it. They're exposed to it. And they say, Hey, like Hughes did, this is pretty cool. I might, I might want to give this a shot.

Stephen J: (44:59)
Yeah. I mean, this, this kind of parlays to Tim Dexter, the, the assistant chief out in Newberg who wrote the book, uh, the fire, Nick, the fire dog. I have a copy signed copy here. And if somebody wants that, you know, we're gonna give that one away today. So if somebody wants it, we're in suite number five here, touch a stadium for now, you know, for now until another change happens, but we'll be here hopefully the rest of the night. Uh, but we have that book it's signed by chief Dexter. Uh, it's a great little book. I read it to my nephew who really enjoyed it. He said, Nick's a real dog. I said, yes, Nick's a real dog. And there's the picture in the back. It was very, very cool for me to do that with my nephew. So we have that here, but another guy mm-hmm, that started in a police cadet program. Right. Uh, who's now a fire chief. Yep. You know, and, and, and you, and I know a lot of people that are the same, it doesn't matter if they're gonna go fire police, especially that young. Yeah. They're always considering probably both or

Bill: (45:46)
EMS. I mean, a lot, let's not forget, uh, the old slope or will and ambulance back in the day. A lot of those guys that, uh, we, well, I worked with back in the mid nineties, I, I worked full-time in an ambulance for five years. Uh, many of those, uh, folks that I worked with either ended up in the F D N Y or, uh, or another, uh, career in, uh, either law enforcement or fire, uh, here in the Hudson valley. So, uh, you know, EMS is often left out when we talk. And I can't tell you how, uh, I'm blessed. We are in our town to have, uh, emergency medical professionals, uh, that, uh, take care of our town 24 7. And, uh, we, we can't thank them enough. In fact, I should get a plug in for, uh, our town of WAER first responder awards, uh, which we couldn't hold last year due to COVID last year, would've been the fourth annual this year will be the fourth annual it's next Sunday, September 19th. So if you happen to see this, uh, podcast, uh, before then, uh, it's open to the public. It's 6:00 PM at town hall, and the town really stops and pauses, uh, to recognize, uh, those that have gone above and beyond, uh, from all those, uh, disciplines, fire, police, and EMS, uh, saving lives. I

Stephen J: (46:49)
Can back that up. I actually received that award years ago. That's right. And, uh, they do an amazing job just saying, thank you. Yeah. You know, it may be just an incident that you're involved in, but the, the big thank you, the town gives and they really appreciate their

Bill: (47:01)
First responders. Yeah. We believe that, uh, it's often critical for, uh, first responders to be recognized, uh, as part of the closure process on critical incidents. Uh, and uh, often, uh, folks don't know the outcome of a, a patient and, uh, when they, uh, when they survive or, or even if they don't survive, uh, if, if a, if, uh, an individual has gone above and beyond and put themselves, uh, in harm's way, uh, as a town, uh, we believe it's important to recognize.

Stephen J: (47:28)
So one of the questions we asked, a lot of guests, and again, this whole podcast about the things you do really when you're not working right in the fire service, but has there ever been an incident that you recall that

Bill: (47:38)
Really just changed your mindset ORs really special or just helped you to be a better fire chief fire officer? Well, I mean, you know, the has been a number of critical incidents that we've been, you know, we've dealt with, uh, that have kind of changed our, um, our, our perspective. Right. And, uh, I could tell you that I have witnessed, uh, on a number of occasions, um, our team, whether it be the volunteer team or whether it be the professional EMS or police officers, I have witnessed on a number of occasions. Uh, those individuals come together and affect a positive outcome on a patient that otherwise would not have a positive outcome. And I could tell you, that's the reason why I continue to, uh, uh, to do it. Uh, and that's the reason why I continue to, uh, do my best to recruit, uh, new members to continue, uh, continue this, uh, uh, uh, this important endeavor

Stephen J: (48:31)
Bill, if you could talk to, uh, well, I'm gonna go back earlier, cuz usually guys like 21 year old bill, you're already doing it. If you could go back and talk to any 21 year old who wants to be in your shoes or, or attain the accolades and positions, you've sat in what's, what's the advice you're giving him.

Bill: (48:48)
What I would say is, uh, get involved in your community with an organization, right? What is your interest? Okay, doesn't have to be politics. It doesn't have to be the fire service. It doesn't have to be EMS, right? It can be getting involved in the rotary club. It could be getting involved in the Elks club. You wanna get involved with an organization that's gonna give back to the community, right? Because then you become more vested in your own community. And I think that, you know, on this podcast and in this room, we have folks that have many parallel, a personality type, uh, involvements in, uh, emergency services. But I believe, uh, not everybody, that's not for everybody. Sure. Right. I believe that, um, if you are involved in some way in your community and you, uh, uh, become part of a group, you're gonna give back. And I think that if you do that young, you're gonna continue to do that and you're gonna encourage your children to do that. And I think that's where the success in a community comes from. We can't alienate our community. We have to be directly involved in our community and take pride in ownership in our

Stephen J: (49:49)
Community. Yeah. I couldn't agree more. I mean, we talk about it all the time. We're in the same community. Yep. And just to get the people to accept one another mm-hmm and not their differences, but their likenesses. Right. You know, we could do so much more when we're we come together and again, we go back to September 12th. Yeah. We could just get back to that mindset, man. We could, we could do wonders in our own communities. People

Bill: (50:09)
Are so quick to, uh, you know, pick apart other people. Right. And I, and again, I think social media is part of the reason why, right. Folks have, uh, opinions that often they'd kept to themselves. Now they have a platform to just, uh, you know, post before keyboard warriors think about it. Right. Right. And I think that that's what can tear community apart. And, uh, uh, unfortunately there are discussion groups out there designed for this, right? And there's folks that sit at in front of their computer all day long, waiting to battle somebody else on, on social media. That's, that's not what this is all about. You know? Uh, you you're missing the point. If you're one of those people, we need to come together as a community, especially on a day like this, uh, where we have perspective about, you know, we were, we were down and out. We were, we were, we were suffering 20 years ago. Right. Uh, nobody, uh, nobody really knew what was gonna happen next that day. Right. We turned to each other for support 20 years ago. We need to turn to each other for support as we move forward. Uh, today

Stephen J: (51:04)
You have big shout out to Tommy Merado out there he's led. He says absolutely amazing bill, thank you. What you're doing, bill. One of the questions that we ask literally, every guest is how do you define hero?

Bill: (51:15)
Well, I think hero has been overused. Uh, I think hero, um, you know, the, the immediate answer that we always use as heroes or sandwiches. Right. Um, I think that, you know, from our perspective, we don't really use the word hero, uh, unless, uh, it's absolutely warranted. And I'll tell you what a hero is. Okay. A hero is, in my opinion, someone that is in combat defending this country, okay. Someone that's in combat, whether it be on the front lines of a conflict or war, or whether it be on the front lines of ground zero on September 11th, 20 years ago, O as a first responder people that are willing to put their lives down for others, those are heroes. So let's not overuse the word. Right. Let's understand that it's important that we not overuse the word, but folks that are willing to, and, and you, Steve, you and your background in law enforcement, uh, you have taken an oath where you could have to put yourself in harm's way to save someone else. Those are heroes.

Stephen J: (52:14)
I, I agree with you a hundred percent. You're a hero bill with the things that you've done, you know, you've done it since a young age and every time that pager goes off, what used to be the Tron? Yeah. You guys, you answer that call, not ask in questions about who are you, right. How much do you make a year? What political party are you? Where do you live in it? Exactly. You guys

Bill: (52:36)
Go, you don't judge. And that's what we tell

Stephen J: (52:38)
You. And, and that's, that's heroes, man. It's important. And the leadership you've given to the young people, the leadership you've done in your town, that's what makes you a hero to me. And that's why we love doing this podcast because we get to speak to people who aren't just heroes, we're talking heroes, all caps. And, and you're one of a bill. I appreciate your friendship all over all these years. Of course. And I appreciate what you've done, man. Well,

Bill: (52:59)
I appreciate you guys, um, providing a platform for individuals to, uh, to give background about what they do. I think that this is an important, uh, process, uh, for visuals to see what others are doing that have similar backgrounds to them. And I think, uh, you guys are doing a great job. I wish you the best luck, uh, in this podcast. Uh, and uh, if any, anything I could do for you guys, don't hesitate to

Stephen J: (53:21)
Reach out. Absolutely bill. Thank you so much, Joe. Thank you so much for your service. I really appreciate it. And thanks for coming down today.

Stephen J: (53:31)
So first live podcast we ever did came out pretty good, not so bad with a guy that's live on the radio pretty much every morning for a long time. Yeah. And many years a different kind of guest because most of our guests become the and then get involved in other things this guy had been doing, you know, Bill's been doing radio and DJing since he was a kid, right. Then becomes the fireman as the kids who, but then really into the whole profession. So kind have a different twist on what our guest was. But the affirmation he gave, I think, especially you, yeah. With the technical, uh, setups that we have in this podcast and able to live. I think we was awesome, man. Yeah. It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun as children growing up together. We, uh, we have some history we we've been involved in a lot of stuff.

Stephen J: (54:11)
Uh, seems like you both ended up in the appropriate careers. Yeah. you a, as we said, we were glad we didn't grow up in the cell phone era. Right. once again, thank you for listening behind the 10 and hearing about how our heroes are heroes with the 10 on and off, please make sure you follow, like share and subscribe to the podcast. Yeah. Visit behind the ten.com. Visit behind the ten.com behind the 10 gmail.com. If you have an idea for a guest or you yourself, uh, fit the bill, we'd love to have you. Hey, thanks again. Look out for one another and stay safe.